


Operation: Eden

by meleonon



Category: Metal Gear
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-01
Updated: 2017-01-13
Packaged: 2018-07-11 15:00:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 69,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7057228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meleonon/pseuds/meleonon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Snake wonders what Ocelot's problem is...the kid just acts so strange around him sometimes. Thinking back to a conversation, Snake realizes what the problem is...Ocelot is jealous.<br/>Written for a prompt on Tumblr</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Realization

Snake knew there was something up with Ocelot, but he could never quite put his finger on what the problem was. The kid acted strangely around him at times, and there were times when he’d get furious over small things. It didn’t take Snake long to realize that the times that Ocelot would get mad was whenever Eva was brought up between them. Snake knew that they had never quite gotten along from the beginning…but Ocelot’s objections seemed…odd.

Recalling a conversation between Ocelot and himself from shortly after they had reconnected after Operation Snake Eater, Snake tried to put the puzzle that is called Ocelot together.

 

_“So…after you got back to America…did you and Eva…do anything?” Ocelot almost mumbled out, the alcohol that he had been drinking alongside Snake had seemingly given him enough courage to finally ask what had been bothering him since they had found each other again._

_“Uhh…Well, we went to a cabin and I think we slept together. But then she left with the Philosopher’s Legacy…or what I thought was the Philosopher’s Legacy.” Snake didn’t miss the way that Ocelot’s eye twitched in annoyance…though he didn’t know why Ocelot would even want to know what he and Eva had done…_

Jerking out of the memory, something inside Snake’s head clicked.

He knew why Ocelot had wanted to know about what he and Eva had done, AND why he always seemed to get mad whenever she was brought up between them…

…Ocelot was jealous.

Snake just about laughed as he realized what the kid’s problem was. He couldn’t believe that he hadn’t realized it sooner, seeing it now, it was so _obvious_.

Just about sighing in relief at solving this mystery, Snake leaned back in his chair. Now he just had to figure how to help the kid out. No wonder why he had never told Snake what his problem was…he didn’t want Snake knowing about his crush. Snake thought it was kinda cute in actuality.

Pulling out a cigar from his pocket and biting down on the tip, Snake dug through his pockets looking for a lighter. After a few moments, he realized he didn’t have one and decided to look for Ocelot, whom he knew always carried a lighter on him…though he had never questioned why he did, since he didn’t even smoke.

His sock covered feet allowed him to wander the through the building silently. He found Ocelot in one of the living rooms, reading some book. As the brunet walked in, blue eyes met a single blue eye for a moment, before Ocelot’s returned to his book. Snake walked over to him, his cigar still in his mouth, eagerly awaiting the moment it shall be lit. He sat down next to the blond haired man and stared at him expectantly for a few moments before getting impatient. He cleared his throat, earning a chuckle from the younger man.

“You know you could have asked instead of just expecting me to light it for you.” Ocelot shook his head good-naturedly, fishing in his pocket for the lighter that he carried around just for Snake, since the older man, without fail, never had one on him. Pulling out the lighter, Ocelot put his book to the side and leaned towards Snake, holding out the now lit lighter for him to light the cigar. Snake met him halfway, touching the tip to the flame and enjoying the taste of the cigar once it was lit.

Sitting for a few moments in a companionable silence, Snake contemplated his next move. How was he supposed to go about this thing with Ocelot? Finally he decided on a course of action.

“You know that you don’t have to be embarrassed to tell me anything right?” Snake figured it was easiest to let him know that there was nothing wrong in what he was feeling. Ocelot’s eyes snapped to his, widening for a moment in surprise and something else that Snake couldn’t catch before Ocelot masked his expression.

“Sure? Why are you bringing this up?” Snake could tell that Ocelot was nervous, even if he wasn’t showing it like other people would. Snake thought that if Ocelot knew that he wouldn’t judge him, then he may be more comfortable in telling him about his crush.

“I just wanted to let you know that if there was something bothering you, you don’t need to be scared to tell me.” Snake didn’t miss the way Ocelot’s gaze darkened at the thought that Snake would have thought that he was scared to tell him something.

“Well, it’s a good thing that I don’t have anything bothering me…and I wouldn’t be scared to tell you if there was.” Ocelot huffed and Snake knew that he still didn’t want to bring it up…so Snake decided to bring it up for him, after all, sometimes it was easier to talk about something if the topic was already brought up. The hard part was actually bringing the topic up…good thing that Snake didn’t have an issue bringing the topic up.

“I know about your crush.” Ocelot paled significantly, his eyes widening and refusing to meet Snake’s eye. Snake couldn’t overlook how tense the blond haired man had gotten with those few words. Ocelot stayed dead silent for a few minutes before taking a shaky breath and finally responding.

“Y…you do?” Ocelot still refused to meet his gaze and seemed to think that his gloved hand was more interesting than Snake at the moment.

 

 

He couldn’t believe what Snake was telling him.

He knew about his crush…

And here he thought that he had been subtle in his attraction for the American man…but somehow Snake had figured it out.

He was panicked…would Snake look down on him for liking him? He couldn’t stand the way Snake just stared at him like this wasn’t a turning point in whatever relationship they had.

He realized he hadn’t responded to the other man and inhaled, bracing himself for what was going to come.

“Y…you do?” he still couldn’t meet the other man’s gaze…he just wasn’t quite ready for that yet. He stared at his red leather gloves instead.

“Yeah, just realized it not too long ago actually.” Snake took a drag from his cigar, blowing the smoke into the air, then continued, “There wasn’t a reason why you should have been nervous to tell me. I don’t mind.” Snake said, shrugging his shoulders to further the point that he wasn’t bothered by the idea of Ocelot’s crush.

He finally steeled himself to look up at the other man after that.

_He didn’t mind. Does that mean he likes me too?_

His heart was racing. The thought that his idol and the man that he was attracted to may be attracted to him in return sent blood rushing to his head, making him blush. A smile started to bloom across his face. He had dreamt about the day that he and Snake may go further than just a friendship…he just didn’t expect it to be so soon.

But just like a newly blooming flower gets run over by a lawnmower and becomes nothing more than a mangled mess of what could have been wonderful and beautiful…the smile on Ocelot’s face fell as Snake opened his mouth again.

“I think you and Eva would make a cute couple.”

_What?_

_What did he just say?_

_What did he just fucking say!?_

_Eva!?_

_Did Snake think that he had a crush…on **her**!? _

He could feel the anger rising in his chest and he knew he needed to get as far away from Snake as he could before he exploded at him. Standing and storming out of the room in a furious rage, he couldn’t fucking believe that Snake, the object of his desires, would think that he even liked that…that…bitch.

 

 

Snake watched as his friend left the room…

He had figured that Ocelot was unwilling to talk about his crush on Eva with him since he knew that he had slept with her and seemed to like her.

Snake did like Eva…but she had lost a lot of his trust after ditching him back in ’64.

And he wasn’t lying when he said that Ocelot and Eva would make a cute couple.

He resolved right then and there that he would do whatever he could to help his poor friend out, it was the least he could do anyways. Knowing Ocelot, he wouldn’t let his pride down long enough to ask Eva out without a few gentle nudges in the right direction.

Finishing his cigar, he stood and retired to his room to think. He needed to figure out how to get Eva to notice the younger man at least…and not himself.

After thinking for a while, he came up with a couple of what he thought were great plans to get the two of them hooked up.

He couldn’t help but think about how great of a friend he was being.

 

The first opportunity to enact his plans arose the next morning at breakfast. Snake walked into the kitchen, the smell of something cooking making his mouth water.

Ocelot glanced at him as he walked in, his gaze quickly returning to the stove. They sat in silence for a good fifteen minutes…Snake thought that was odd. Usually Ocelot couldn’t shut up…

Ocelot placed a plate with breakfast in front of him and Snake couldn’t wait to start eating. Grabbing his fork, he started shoveling the food in, not pausing to even taste any of it.

Eva wandered in shortly after he started eating and after a few more moments, Ocelot joined the other two at the table holding both his and Eva’s breakfast. He handed the blonde haired woman her food and she mumbled a quiet thanks as she was still half asleep.

The three of them sat there, eating, until Snake began what he had dubbed Operation Eden.

Snake stood, grabbing his already empty plate and placing it on the counter before walking to the kitchen door. He paused at the door and looked at Ocelot, who had watched his every move since he had stood up in confusion. He smirked at the younger man, nodding his head at Eva and winking at him before taking his leave from the kitchen.

Plan 1) Give them time alone.

Snake figured his plan was flawless. He smiled in accomplishment and started humming a tune as he walked to the other part of the building where the other three people that made up the Patriots stayed.

 

Eva shifted in her seat. It wasn’t that she was scared of Ocelot…it was that she wasn’t necessarily comfortable around him yet. She was never quite sure what he was thinking and, being a spy herself, she preferred to be more in control of the situations she found herself in.

She was confused as to why Snake had left. He always stayed until they all finished their breakfast and then they’d all walked over to the other side of the building where Zero, Sigint and Para-medic stayed.

Why was today different?

She also noticed how quiet Ocelot was today too…he usually talked enough for the three of them, but today he hadn’t muttered a single word. Looking at the man across from her, she tried finding any signs of what had happened between him and Snake…but she found nothing. Eventually she decided the only way she was going to get answers was to ask for them directly.

“What is going on with you today?” Eva questioned, watching as he looked up at her. The look of irritation was nothing new on his face, though it seemed more noticeable today than it ever had.

“Nothing.” His eyes slipped back down to his plate and he seemed to want to get out of there as soon as he could. She wasn’t letting him off the hook so easily though.

“There is obviously something up. You are too quiet today. What is going on?” She knew that he was getting mad, but she wanted answers.

“I said there was nothing wrong.” His eyes snapped back up to hers and she was somewhat surprised at the intensity of the anger within them. It was a look that she had seen many times before. It was a look of a love-jilted man…it was a look that she wouldn’t have expected to see on Ocelot’s face.

She didn’t know what to say now…she didn’t even know if she had seen the emotion long enough to even ensure that was what it was, for he slipped his emotionless mask back on before she could fully decipher what he may have been feeling at that moment.

She sighed, not content with the answer she was given. Obviously something was up, and she wasn’t any closer to knowing what it was. What she did know was that she wasn’t going to get any more information from the Russian man sitting across from her.

Waiting for him to grab both of their plates, Eva watched Ocelot as he placed them into the sink for the moment. He was oddly quiet and that was almost concerning.

Standing and following the younger man to the where Snake and the others were, Eva found herself missing his ramblings. Ocelot without his mouth constantly spewing unimportant nonsense was like a cat without its purr. He remained silent until they had just about reached their destination. When he broke his silence, it startled her slightly, not expecting him to say anything.

“He really is dense isn’t he?”

It took her a moment for her to realize exactly who _he_ was. By the time it had clicked in her head who he was talking about, they had already entered the room where the others had begun to gather and she was unable to question him further about what he meant.

She made a mental note to bring it up to him later.

 

Snake watched as Ocelot and Eva walked into the room. Eva was a few paces behind Ocelot and they didn’t seem to be any closer than they had been before.

_Maybe my plan didn’t work too well…_

But that was okay because he had other plans.

 

He wasn’t able to start up his next plan until later that evening. After the trio had finished what Zero had wanted them to do that day, they made their way back to their side of the building. Snake was the first one to get back and he decided to get his next plan into action. Leaving the building completely, Snake wandered around the perimeter looking for the wildflowers that littered the ground. He picked a good size bundle of the various flowers and weeds alike before heading back inside. Concealing the flowers, he snuck inside and headed for his room.

By the time he had come in, Eva had returned and she watched him as he skirted around the edge of the room, obviously avoiding her. She narrowed her eyes at him, but he just threw her his most charming smile to get her off edge.

Slipping into his room, Snake placed the flowers on his nightstand, giving them a good look over, making sure that none of them had gotten hurt from being inside his jacket pocket while concealing them from Eva.

Once he was pleased that all of them looked to be in good condition, Snake pulled out a piece of paper and sat down at the small desk in his room. Pulling out a pen to forge a note, Snake tapped the pen against his lips while thinking.

Finally deciding on what to write, Snake scribbled his chosen words on the paper and signed it. Standing once more, he grabbed the flowers and his forged note. Peeking his head out of his room, he glanced to where Eva, and now Ocelot, were. They both looked to be busy, so he quietly stepped out of his room and made his way over to Eva’s room. The door creaked slightly as he pushed it open, but neither of the other two seemed to notice so he slipped into the room undetected.

He quickly made his way over to Eva’s nightstand and placed the flowers and the note down. As quickly as he entered the room, he left, making his way back to his room, feeling good about this plan.

 

 

Eva was even more confused about what was going on with Snake and Ocelot as the day drew to a close than she had been that same morning. She had no idea what Snake had been doing outside and what he was hiding when he came back inside…though she brushed it off, thinking it was probably some dead squirrel that he had wanted to try tasting.

When Ocelot came back, she followed his movements as he walked over to the same little couch that she was sitting on. He sounded tired as he sat down and she narrowed her eyes slightly. She KNEW something was going on and she was determined now more than ever to figure it out.

Just as she was about to bring up their conversation, if you could call it that, from earlier up, she noticed that Ocelot was looking at something. Following his gaze, she watched as Snake slipped into his room and shut the door.

_Now he’s being antisocial too?_

She huffed, turning her attention back to Ocelot.

“What is going on here?” Eva watched as he shook his head tiredly.

“Nothing that concerns you.” If they had been back in Groznyj Grad she was sure that he would have snapped at her angrily, but now he sounded tired and not as angry as he usually sounded.

“Obviously something is up…You know that I’m going to find out eventually so you may as well tell me now and save yourself the trouble.” She shrugged her shoulder, hoping that, for once, Ocelot would just talk to her. She had noticed in the time that she had known him, he was constantly trying to gain approval, especially from Snake, and she knew that that behavior stemmed from his lack of a childhood. Because of this, he followed Snake around like a puppy, so it was concerning when she hadn’t seen Ocelot doing so that day.

“You can’t find anything if nothing is there.” He glared at her, letting her know that this was the most she was getting from him.

_He really could act like a child sometimes…_

Sighing once more, Eva stood and waved him goodnight before heading to her room to get some sleep, leaving Ocelot alone in the living room.

As soon as she entered her room, she knew someone had been in there. Stiffening and glancing around her room for anything out of the ordinary, her gaze stopped on the flowers on her nightstand. Moving over to them to investigate, she noticed the note beside the poorly picked flowers. The note had her name on the front.

Picking it up and flipping it around to read what was on the back, her eyes widened and her breath hitched slightly in shock

_I can’t stop thinking about you. These flowers made me think of you. ~Ocelot_

She read, and then reread the card multiple times, trying to figure out if this was some joke. She placed the note down after rereading it again and took a closer look at the flowers. It was obvious that they had been picked from the perimeter of the building…but she couldn’t help but be flattered. She hadn’t received flowers from a man for a very long time…but what confused her was that _Ocelot_ was the one giving them to her. She thought that he hated her…but apparently she was wrong.

Grabbing the note and the flowers, she decided to thank/question him about the flowers.

Walking out of her room, she knew that she could still find him out in the living space since he seemed to barely ever sleep. At her appearance, his eyes left the book he was reading to, first her, then the bundle in her arms. He got a quizzical look as he looked at the flowers. She walked over to where he was and sat down next to him.

Looking into his light blue eyes, she couldn’t help but think that he was a very handsome man…but she never thought she would be in a position like this.

“I guess I should thank you.” She broke the silence, brushing one of her fingers along one of the soft petals of a red flower that she had no idea what it was called.

“For…what?” His eyebrows had knitted in confusion and she wondered if he was playing dumb. She was obviously holding the flowers he had given him…so what else did he think she was thanking him about.

“The flowers.” She said like it should have been obvious to him.

“The flowers?” He repeated back to her, sounding sincerely confused. She knew he was a good actor…but the level of confusion in his voice made her waiver…

She handed him the note, hoping that it would make him drop the act. She watched as he read and reread the note a couple of times. He ran the hand not holding the note over his face almost in a way to calm him down she thought.

He turned his gaze to hers and shook his head.

“I didn’t give them to you.” She couldn’t believe what he was saying. He had signed the note…and he expected that she would think that he _hadn’t_ given the flowers to her. Did he think she was stupid or something?

“Oh? And I suppose that someone else gave them to me and signed your name just for giggles.” She was getting tired of him lying to her.

He stood and found a pen, writing something on a spare piece of paper. Grabbing the paper and then giving it to her, she read the nonsensical sentence he had written. Knitting her eyebrows in confusion, she looked up at him.

“What the hell is this supposed to mean?”

He sighed, “I didn’t write that note you have. Compare the handwriting.” He told her, waving his hand through the air. She did as he said and she noticed the major difference between the two handwritings.

Ocelot’s handwriting was sharp, small and very legible…the handwriting on the note was scrawling, sloppy and hard to read. She didn’t think that Ocelot could have changed his writing style so drastically to write this note…but it didn’t answer the question of who did then.

“Okay…so who wrote it then…and who gave me the flowers?” She asked as he sat back down next to her.

 

 

Ocelot couldn’t believe that Snake would go this far…

He mulled over whether or not he should just tell Eva what the hell the American man was up to…save himself the trouble (and embarrassment) that was sure to come later if this continued. He glanced at Eva…he was pretty sure that she already knew about his feelings for Snake…but if she didn’t…

He sighed, making up his mind.

“It was Snake.” Even though he hadn’t seen the man do any of it himself, he knew that he was responsible for the flowers and the note.

“Snake? But why would he write your name on the note then?” He was just as confused as she was about the whole thing…how the hell did he get the idea that he liked Eva?

“He…” he paused…did he _really_ want to tell her?

“He got some stupid idea that I’m jealous of your relationship with him.” He watched as her eyebrows narrowed even further.

“And…he decided to give me flowers…why?”

“He thinks that I like you.” Watching her face as she processed what he had told her, he saw as she went from confusion, to understanding, to amusement.

He just about growled as she broke out in laughter, he didn’t think this situation was funny at all.

“Oh…oh my god…” she got out between her laughter, “…he…” she stopped trying to talk until she got her laughter under control.

“He thinks you’re jealous because you like me?” She asked, but she already knew the answer.

“Yes. I don’t know how he ended up at that conclusion though.” He was still very much annoyed. He knew he shouldn’t have told her.

“Yeah, I know…” he looked over at her as she trailed off in thought. “He really is dense.” She agreed to his statement from that morning that had just kinda slipped out without him meaning to tell her.

“After all…” she continued and he knew this wasn’t going to end well, “You probably didn’t want to tell him he got it wrong huh?” the smile on her face made him tense…this wasn’t good. “Didn’t want to say, ‘No Snake, you got it all wrong. I’m into dick…specifically yours.” She smiled sweetly at him, yet it didn’t change the fact that he was seriously debating on strangling her in that moment…her comment had hit a little too close to home for Ocelot.

Ocelot could feel his face turn red in embarrassment…and for once, he didn’t know what to say to that.

Eva laughed at the obvious blush across his face and that made him even more uncomfortable.

Why did he think that it was a good idea to tell her about this again?

He debated whether he should just get up and leave with whatever pride he had left. She must have seen that he was going to leave because she toned down her teasing.

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry.” She tried to ease his anger a bit, for once deciding that she doesn’t want to rile him up.

“No you’re not.” He spat back at her, knowing that she didn’t mean what she said.

“Okay, so maybe I’m not…but…” He didn’t stick around long enough to hear what she was going to say after that, giving up on trying to be civil to that irritating woman.

He wanted to slam his door to make a point, but he was reminded that Snake may be asleep and he didn’t want to wake the other man up, so he suppressed the urge to slam the door.

He was appalled at Eva’s audacity…being able to talk so flippantly about…about his preference in partners…or he supposed his preference in Snake.

Flopping down onto his bed with a sigh, Ocelot decided he needed to figure out how to let Snake know he wasn’t into Eva…at all. Laying down on his side, he stared at the wall…

_This isn’t going to be easy…_

 

Deep in thought, Eva sat on the couch for about fifteen minutes after Ocelot had stormed off to his room.

She was highly amused at the predicament Ocelot had somehow found himself in.

Snake was a very dense man, so she wasn’t surprised that he hadn’t seen Ocelot’s desire as what it really was. She knew that Ocelot was jealous, that much was obvious, though Snake had mistaken at exactly who he was jealous about.

She had seen the way Ocelot had lusted for Snake since they had met in Tselinoyarsk. It was cute how Ocelot thinks that his attraction for Snake was low-key, but in all actuality it was very high-key…very noticeable…other than to the man whom Ocelot desired.

She giggled, a thought running through her head…

_If Snake wanted to play matchmaker for her and Ocelot, then I’ll play along. But I may as well have some fun with it too._


	2. Not getting any better...

It was still dark out when Ocelot opened his eyes. Sighing, he sat up on his bed, stretching his arms over his head. He rubbed his eyes, trying to get them to adjust to the very little light in the room. Eventually he just stood and left his bedroom and headed for the bathroom down the hall for a shower. Flipping the light on and shutting and locking the door behind him, Ocelot started to undress.

He was starting to wonder if it was time to just ditch the whole Patriot idea and head back to the Soviet Union. Running a hand down his face, he couldn’t believe his lapse in judgement last night with Eva…what was he thinking when he told her about what was going on?

Apparently he hadn’t been thinking.

Turning the shower on and waiting for a few moments for the water to heat up, he found himself questioning the intelligence of Americans. All of them were stupid or just plain out crazy…so why was he wasting his time in this country?

Stepping under the spray of the shower, Ocelot relished the warmth of the soothing water running down his body. He snorted as he answered his own question.

_Snake was the only reason he was here in America. His crush on the dense American man had drawn him to come here…and just look where that got him._

_Stuck in some stupid game where Snake, the object of his desires, is trying to hook him up with Eva, the woman who he could barely stand being in the same room with._

He wanted to groan in annoyance, but stopped himself. He didn’t need anyone thinking he was doing anything lewd in the shower. Huffing, he figured that Snake would over hear and think he was getting desperate for Eva.

Turning off the water, Ocelot stepped out of the shower, glancing around the room for anything that was out of the ordinary…he didn’t want to underestimate Snake in this game.

He was momentarily glad when he saw that his clothes were still where he left them…but his sense of relief disappeared as soon as he realized that he still had the day to get through and he wasn’t any closer in figuring out how to tell Snake he wasn’t interested in Eva. That he was interested in Snake himself…

After drying himself off, he redressed as he tried to come up with an idea…but none that made sense came to mind.

He braced himself as he stepped out of the bathroom. This was something he could get through…after all, he had gotten through Volgin relatively unscathed…this was much less dangerous…

…as far as he knew.

 

 ***

 

Snake woke earlier than he normally did, eager to start the day and hopefully help out his friend with his love life.

Practically jumping out of bed, he pulled on some pants and put on a shirt before heading out of his room, flinging his door open and almost hitting Ocelot with it in the process.

“Hey! Watch it!” Ocelot practically growled at him, but he just shot Ocelot a charming smile, showing he was sorry. It had obviously worked as Ocelot relaxed slightly and smiled back at him.

“Sorry Snake…didn’t mean to snap at you.” Ocelot ceded shortly after and Snake was glad that this hadn’t escalated into a physical fight like things with Ocelot often did.

“It’s alright.” Snake followed the younger man into the kitchen and sat at the barstool at the island counter, his eye watching as the blond moved around the kitchen. “You’re up early.” He didn’t usually like small talk…but he was glad that Ocelot was actually talking to him today, so he decided that it was worth the effort to keep him talking.

“I’m always up this early. You’re the one up early today.” Ocelot shot back, his light blue eyes meeting Snake’s own for a short moment before he turned around, digging around in the cupboard.

“I guess so…” Snake let his eye wander around the kitchen…but it always ended up on the other man. Ocelot eventually turned back toward him and caught him staring. If he wanted to ask about it, he must have convinced himself that he didn’t want to.

“Anything in particular you want for breakfast?” Ocelot asked instead. Snake thought for a moment…what did he want? After a moment of deliberation with himself he responded.

“Pancakes and sausage.” He said with a smile, his mouth starting to water at the thought. It had been quite some time since he had a good pancake breakfast.

“Well…the pancakes should be doable…but we don’t have anything for sausage. So, unless you go out and get some sort of meat for it, then you’re out of luck.” Ocelot told him, though Snake didn’t think that he was joking about the second half. Standing and walking out of the building, Snake pulled out his hunting knife. A cursory glance around the perimeter and he managed to find a few squirrels.

Within a few minutes, he was heading back inside, the soon-to-be-sausages dangling in his grasp. The smell of the pancakes as he stepped inside was mouth-watering. Placing the squirrels on the counter and taking his place again. He watched as Ocelot turned back to glance at him. He smiled at his friend, nodding his head in the direction of the meat he caught. He saw Ocelot’s eyes follow his movement and he saw him pale at the sight.

“Wha…What the hell Snake!?” Ocelot yelled, flinging the spatula around as Snake tried to figure out the problem.

“What? I caught the sausage…you told me to.” Snake huffed, crossing his arms across his chest, defending himself against something that he didn’t understand. After all, Ocelot had said that if he wanted sausage he needed to catch the meat…so he did…and for some reason Ocelot was mad at him. Snake had yet to figure out the Russian man and he honestly wondered if he ever would.

“I…” Ocelot sighed in annoyance, pinching the bridge of his nose. He suddenly turned back to the stove to flip the pancake that was still in the pan.

“If you want sausage, _you_ have to clean and prepare the meat. I’m not touching those.” He told him, motioning in the direction of the squirrels with the spatula.

“I wasn’t expecting you to.” Snake grumbled, grabbing the bodies and moving them closer to himself to start cleaning them.

He got through halfway through cleaning one of them when Eva wandered in, rubbing her eye tiredly. She froze at the sight of Snake, staring at the gore in his hands.

“Wha…What is that?” She asked, though she really didn’t even want to know in all honestly.

“His version of sausage.” Ocelot answered her, still refusing to face Snake, the dead animals bringing up bad memories from his days in Groznyj Grad when he had stolen Snake’s animals from the American’s backpack and eaten them…he hadn’t realized at the time he was eating them, that more than half of them were rotten…though he soon found out the hard way.

Eva shook her head, apparently not wanting to question any further.

Snake smiled, this was good if they were getting along enough to have a conversation, so he figured his plan from the night before must have worked.

Finishing cleaning the squirrels, he stared at them for a moment…how was he supposed to turn them into sausage?

He looked up at Ocelot, who had seemingly finished the pancakes and was washing the pan.

“How do I make sausage?” Snake asked both of the occupants of the room, hoping one of them knew. Eva just shrugged, not knowing. He turned his attention the other man in the room who glanced back at him, then returned his attention to what he was doing before.

“I don’t know. Figure it out. You wanted the damn stuff so that is your problem.” Ocelot replied, and Snake couldn’t help but pout a bit. Looking down at the flesh, he started to try to make it look like a sausage. Working with it for a bit, he managed to make it look somewhat like what he wanted it to. Placing the links back on the counter, he smiled at Ocelot’s back.

“Finished.” Ocelot was scared to turn around and witness whatever Snake had done to the meat…

He huffed at both the satisfied and proud look on Snake’s face and the raw meat on the counter. He stuck the mangled links of meat into the fry pan and placed it back on the heat to start cooking them.

Snake looked over at Eva, she seemed to be watching Ocelot and that made him smile. His plan must have worked if Eva showed an interest in him.

Clearing his throat, Snake gained the blonde’s attention. “So Eva…when was the last time you went on a date?” Snake smiled, his eye glancing over to the blond man momentarily then returning to the only female in the room.

 

 ***

 

Eva blinked in confusion for a moment.

_Why does he want to know when the last time I went on a date?_

Then it hit her as he glanced in Ocelot’s direction, who had become tense. She smiled, _Oh yes, it was time to have some fun._

“Oh…I don’t know. It sure has been a while.” She paused and sighed dramatically before continuing, “I guess I just haven’t had an interested man want to take me on a date.” She pretended to study her nails like she was upset that he was bringing this up.

“Well…”Snake shifted in his seat, glancing back to Ocelot quickly and returned his gaze to her. “I know someone who may be interested.” Eva grinned internally. _No you don’t, he’s interested in you._

Putting on an innocently curious face she smiled tentatively, “Really?” She said like she was excited at the prospect of a future lover. “Who?” of course she already knew who he was talking about, but she couldn’t let Snake know that she was already aware.

“He…” Snake glanced around the room in a motion that she knew from her training as a spy meant that he was trying to some up with something but the straight truth. “He is…” He never got to finish as Ocelot slammed the plate that held Snake’s food down in down in front of him. Snake’s eye instantly went to the food and he frowned as he saw the mangled mess that had come from his carefully squished sausages.

“What happened to the sausage?” Snake poked the mass of meat with his fork, distracted from what he had been saying.

“They didn’t hold together since there was no binding mixed with the meat.” Ocelot informed him, earning an upset glare from the other man.

“You said you didn’t know how to make sausage.” Snake wasn’t all that upset, but he was just disappointed that the sausage turned into more chunks than anything.

“Did I say that?” Ocelot blinked at him innocently, his innocent face turning into a big grin as Snake pouted at him.

“Yes you did and you know that.” Snake said, sticking his fork in the meat and popping it into his mouth. It wasn’t bad…but he preferred the sausage that you could get in either the supermarket, or a breakfast diner.

Ocelot sat down at the table, grabbing a couple of pancakes for himself, but bypassing the sausage completely, Eva doing the same. She waited a few moments before bringing her question back up.

“So, who is this man?” She asked, sticking part of a pancake in her mouth afterwards. Snake actually swallowed his food before answering.

“Right…he is…” he paused, trying to think about how to word it as to make sure he doesn’t outright say who it was. “You know him.” He eventually settled on, nodding as if he was sure that was enough.

“Do I?” She responded, waited a moment before putting out a suggestion, “You by any chance?” She smiled at him and he shook his head and glanced at Ocelot, who looked like he was trying to catch his pancakes on fire by simply glaring at them.

“No…not me. Someone else…” Snake had to make sure that she knew it wasn’t him who was interested in her.

“Oh? Not you…so…Donald?” Throwing out Sigint as another possibility, she wanted both of them to squirm as she narrowed down her possibilities to leave only Ocelot.

“Uh…no. I don’t think so anyways.” Snake was beginning to fidget like he realized that perhaps he shouldn’t have brought this up with Ocelot in the room.

“No again…hmm…” She paused as if she was trying to figure out who exactly he could be talking about. “Zero then?” She said with a grimace, and nearly grinned as Snake did the same.

“No.” Snake looked like he was about to get up and run if she suggested the only male left in the Patriots.

Suddenly, Snake reached his arm out and essentially smacked Ocelot across the chest, apparently scaring the other man who almost choked on the food in his mouth.

“HEY! Ocelot, I just remembered. Zero needed to talk to you as soon as possible this morning. Said it was extremely important.” Snake blurted out…and both she and Ocelot looked at him incredulously. This showed them why they were the spies and he was more an infiltration kind of guy.

“Right…Guess I shouldn’t keep him waiting then.” she chuckled as Ocelot just went with Snake’s bad cover up. Standing and leaving the kitchen, Ocelot caught her gaze as he left. Snake visibly eased as the other man left.

“So that only leaves Ocelot…but it’s obvious that he isn’t interested in me so…” She picked the conversation up where it had been left moments before. Snake looked at her and she watched as he fought himself internally. He eventually sighed, slumping down in his seat in defeat.

“You’d be surprised…” She barely caught what he said, but she smiled fleetingly before continuing with her cover.

“Wait…so, Ocelot is interested in me?” She gaped in mock surprise.

“Yeah…” Snake obviously was a bad liar if he just surrendered that easily.

“So, did he tell you this?” she asked, making herself sound both interested and excited.

“Well…not really. But I figured it out on my own. Whenever we would talk about you, he’d start getting angry and I realized that he was jealous. He thinks that I’m still…into you…and it was making him jealous.” Snake said and it nearly made her laugh out loud. _Oh Snake…if only you knew the truth._

“Wow…and here I’ve thought that he hated me…but I guess it’s quite the opposite huh?” She asked coyly, acting like she was a teenage girl learning about a boy’s crush on her.

“Yep. But he is so damn stubborn he refuses to ask you out…so I decided to be a good friend and help him out.” Snake said, looking so proud of himself that she couldn’t help but laugh at the irony of the whole situation.

 

 ***

 

Snake knit his eyebrows in confusion at Eva’s laughter. He didn’t see what was funny, but he figured that maybe she was embarrassed at being told of Ocelot’s attraction, having not seen it herself sooner.

“Well, don’t worry. I won’t tell Ocelot you told me.” She smiled charmingly, plotting what she figured was going to be the best course of action.

“But…” she fluttered her eyelashes, looking at him coquettishly, “I don’t know how to let Ocelot that I may be interested in him too.” Snake grinned, he had been kinda afraid that Eva wouldn’t be interested in Ocelot and the poor man would have his heart broken…and at such a young age too.

“Leave that to me.” He said, his mind already racing through the possibilities of what he could do. He stood, leaving his plate on the table and walked out of the kitchen, wondering what he would end up doing to help his two best friends.

As he walked to Zero’s side of the compound, he thought of what would let him know that a woman was interested in him. After a little he settled on the easiest way on letting Ocelot know. Stepping over the threshold into the other living space, Snake paused, the telltale click of a gun being cocked made his heart nearly skip a beat in fear. Turning his head, he couldn’t say he was surprised to be met with two blue eyes glaring back at him, his revolver pointed at his head.

“Zero said he didn’t need to talk to me. So either he was lying…” Ocelot stepped closer to him, the gun still leveled at Snake’s head, “…or you were lying to me.” Ocelot grinned a shit-eating grin while moving ever so closer to Snake. Snake just stared at him unaffectedly.

He couldn’t explain as to why he trusted Ocelot not to shoot him in the head, but he did.

Ocelot moved close enough to Snake that he could very easily grab the younger man and put a stop to anything he was planning on doing.

The next time that Snake heard the telltale sound of spurs, he sprang into action. Knocking the revolver out his face, Snake closed the distance between himself and the Russian, grabbing his right arm and twisting it behind his back. He knew that Ocelot hadn’t been expecting the attack since he was easily subdued by Snake as the older man put him into a headlock.

After his initial passiveness, Ocelot started to struggle against Snake’s hold on him, trying to pry his arms from around his neck and shoulders. Snake refused to budge, merely chuckling at his attempts to free himself.

 

 ***

 

Ocelot quickly realized he needed to get away…fast.

Snake had his body flush against his own and Ocelot could smell the man acutely, the smell of cigars and musk that was distinctly Snake. And if that wasn’t enough to do it for Ocelot…he could feel the bulge of Snake’s cock against his ass.

Now, usually Ocelot prided himself about being able to keep calm and not let his emotions show on his face…but there was something about being so close to the man he was very attracted to that melted his normally cool composure into a puddle that caused blood to rush both north and south.

He needed to get away right now. He couldn’t believe that just simply being so close to Snake could make his body react like a teenaged virgin around his crush.

But when had things ever been simple for him? Never…

Paramedic decided to grace them with her presence at that moment, apparently looking for Snake to ask him something. She raised her eyebrows in surprise as she saw them, but brushed it off since it wasn’t the first time that they had gotten into a CQC match…though it definitely was the first that had resulted in him getting a noticeable erection.

“Snake, I need to ask you something regarding the book.” Her voice showed no signs that she had even noticed Ocelot’s tent in his pants, and that was something he was glad for. He figured that Snake would let him go so he could go talk to Paramedic about whatever book she was talking about.

But that would have been too easy wouldn’t it?

“Ask away.”

_He has **got** to be kidding me! He isn’t going to have a conversation with her while keeping me here…right!?_

“So, about the taste of the…” Ocelot tuned her out after that, he really didn’t care about what they were talking about…he just needed to calm his body down…though it would have been easier if he didn’t have Snake’s body pressed into his back.

Snake’s rumbling voice brought him out of his thoughts and he looked at Paramedic (since she was the only thing he could look at at the moment). She was looking at Snake, but she must have felt him watching her since she looked at him. He looked away from her, but kept her in his peripheral vision, keeping a watch on her.

Snake was still talking, but Ocelot thought that no one at that point was listening to him.

Paramedic glanced down, her eyes widening slightly in surprise and her face turning a bright red…though he thought his face was probably twice as red. She looked up at his face, but he refused to look at her again.

Eva saved him.

She walked in, humming some tune that he had never heard before and didn’t care to ever hear again if her humming was close to the song she was imitating.

Snake glanced behind him, having heard her enter the room. It was enough time that Snake was distracted for Ocelot to slip from his grip and take off down the hall into the other building where Snake, Eva and himself stayed.

 

 ***

 

Eva watched Ocelot disappear down the hallway and turned back to the other two in the room. Snake looked confused and Paramedic was flustered.

She could have asked what was going on, but Eva decided that it wasn’t worth the effort.

Paramedic looked glad at her appearance and wandered over to her. They were the only females in the Patriots and, even though Eva didn’t mind working with mostly men, Paramedic seemed to enjoy having another woman around.

They wandered towards Zero’s office together, leaving Snake alone in the commons room. Eva glanced over at the other woman, confused about her silence. She and Ocelot were probably the most talkative people she had ever met, so it was strange when they didn’t blather on about this and that.

Eva nearly snorted as she remembered one of the first times (that she knew of anyways) that Paramedic and Ocelot had found something in common. Movies. They had talked for hours upon hours about all sorts of movies. The conversation had started off normally, Paramedic had asked anyone had seen some new movie that the theater was playing. Of course, no one had, but the spark had been lit. Next thing  Paramedic and Ocelot knew, they were deep within a conversation about everything related about movies.

Paramedic finally got the guts to bring up a topic.

“Men are weird.” Eva burst out in laughter. That wasn’t quite what she was expecting, but it worked she supposed.

“Yeah, they can be.” Eva looked at the other woman, who stared straight ahead. “Where did this come from?”

Paramedic risked a glance at her, but quickly turned her gaze ahead. “Uh…nowhere really. Just a thought.”

Eva knew that it had come from somewhere, but she wasn’t going to push the woman into talking about it if she didn’t want to.

Reaching the oldest member of the Patriots office door, the two women walked inside, wondering what Zero had in store for them today.

 

 ***

 

Snake stared as Paramedic and Eva walked off, leaving him alone and confused.

Shaking his confusion off, he headed off to the training gym, more than ready to blow off some steam by working out.

After a half hour working out, Snake paused, sweat dripping down his face. _This would be better if I had someone to work out with…_

He wondered if it would be worth the effort to go and find Ocelot and drag his sorry ass over to the gym and make him work out with him. Snake enjoyed the physicality he had with Ocelot, he never felt like he needed to hold back on the younger man…and Ocelot apparently shared that sentiment since whenever they trained together, they both left the gym covered in bruises.

Drying his sweaty face off with a towel, Snake determined that it definitely would be worth the trouble to go and find the wildcat for a CQC match.

He went to Ocelot’s quarters first, but there was no sign of the blond man, so he tried elsewhere. After failing to find him for fifteen minutes, Snake walked to Zero’s office. He figured that if anyone knew where Ocelot was it was Zero.

He got to the office door just as Paramedic and Eva were leaving. They waved at him which he returned, before heading into Zero’s office.

“Oh, Good morning Snake. May I help you with something?” Zero questioned him, his voice accented.

“Do you know where Ocelot is?” Snake asked, glancing around the room in curiosity.

“No, I can’t say I do. May I ask why?” Zero watched as the other man looked at his James Bond posters with a slight grimace.

“I wanted to train with him…but I can’t find him.” Snake turned his gaze back to the man who was once his superior.

“Well, you know how cats are. He’ll show up eventually.” Zero chuckled slightly and Snake knew that Zero knew more than he had let onto. Not wanting to cause problems and call him out on it though, the brunet, sighed minutely before walking out of the room.

He figured that Paramedic and Eva wouldn’t know where he was since they had been with Zero…so Snake only had one other option for help.

“Yo Snake! What’s up my man?” Sigint looked up from his work as Snake walked in.

“Not much Sigint…have you seen Ocelot?” the other man paused in his work, tapping his chin with the pen in his hand.

“You mean that blond man that follows you around like your shadow?” Sigint teased, placing the pen on the table and turning towards Snake. At the darkening of Snake’s face though, Sigint put his hands up in a mock surrendering pose.

“Sorry my man, just teasing. No, can’t say that I’ve him for a while. Any reason in particular?” Snake groaned, why was it whenever he needed Ocelot, the damn kid disappeared?

“No, thank you though.” Snake left the other man alone, who just shrugged and continued on his work.

Giving up on finding Ocelot anytime soon, Snake wandered back to the gym to finish his workout solo.

 

The day passed uneventfully, though Snake was rather grumpy due to the bad start in the morning. Walking back to his half of the building, Snake rubbed his stomach as it roared its protest. He had ended up skipping lunch and his stomach wasn’t happy about it at all, and it didn’t have a problem in letting him know.

Walking into the kitchen, he looked around, but only saw Eva, who was pulling something out of the oven.

She placed it on the counter and smiled as she saw him.

“I made dinner.” She told him like he hadn’t seen her pulling it out.

“What is it?” He asked, staring at whatever she had made…he couldn’t figure it out.

“It’s like a pot pie.” She said, narrowing her eyes at him as if he was going to complain about it.

“Oh. So where is Ocelot?” Snake turned his eye away from the goopy mess that was supposed to be like a pot pie.

“I don’t know. Haven’t seen him since this morning.” Turning her back towards him, she scooped out food for her and him, handing him a plate. He looked down at the mess at hoped it tasted better than it looked.

It didn’t.

He forced himself to eat all of it though, just to stop his grumbling tummy.

He had just finished his plate when Eva inhaled in what sounded like shock. Turning his head to see what she was looking at, he saw Ocelot’s back as he disappeared into his own quarters. Snake stood to go confront the kid, but Eva put a hand on his shoulder, urging him to sit back down.

“I’ll go talk to him.” He was going to protest and say that he wanted to talk to him, but she stopped him again. “Let me talk to him. This may be what I need to get closer to him.” She smiled coyly at him and any protest he had on his tongue died. He really wanted to talk to Ocelot…but he figured it could wait.

 

 ***

 

Shutting the door behind him, Ocelot threw his jacket onto the floor in anger. He cursed Zero and his stupid ideas. After he had brought up that he wanted to get into the art of interrogation, Zero said that he would set him up with someone who could instruct him with the basics of interrogation, and being too trusting for once, he agreed to it.

It hadn’t been the first session with this trainer, but he made sure it was the last. Observing his face in the mirror, Ocelot scoffed. He had bruises all over his face from where the trainer had shown tried showing him the error of his attempts. Unluckily for the trainer, Ocelot wasn’t one to take physical abuse easily…so he showed the trainer the quickest way to execute someone you didn’t like. Though he couldn’t say if the trainer actually learned anything from his lesson…

He moved his eyes to whoever was intruding in his room as he heard the door open.

Eva.

Watching her every move from her reflection in the mirror, he narrowed his eyes in annoyance as she walked over to him.

“Where have you been?” She asked curiously.

“You don’t need to know.” He finally turned towards her, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“Fine. You don’t need to tell me. I just wanted to make you sure you are alright.” Tensing as she reached her hand out towards him, he didn’t want to move away and let her know that her touch bothered him…but he also didn’t want to let her touch him because her touch bothered him.

“I’m fine.” He said through clenched teeth, flinching away slightly as she placed her hand against his cheek and rubbed her thumb over one of the bruises.

“Who’d you get into a fight with?” He wanted to shift on his feet. Her voice made it seem like she was actually concerned for his wellbeing…something he wasn’t sure how to deal with as no one else had ever cared about him before…so this was unfamiliar waters for him.

“No one.” He refused to give ground and tell her what she wanted to know. Having just returned from a mock interrogation session from the now-deceased trainer, he felt like he was being interrogated again.

“Oh? And I suppose you got these bruises by running into a tree?” She cocked an eyebrow at him…he wasn’t lying for once…it wasn’t as if he and the trainer had gotten into a fight, he had just been trying to get him to break, something that Ocelot had vehemently refused to do.

“Of course not.” Snorting, then huffing, he tried to turn his gaze away from her. He hated to admit it…but he was rather uncomfortable. Her voice lowered, and the concerned tone returned.

“Then how’d you get these?” She ran her hand down his cheek before resting it on his shoulder. Somewhere from the time she had walked over to him to that moment, she had stepped even closer to him, closing the distance between them. He could smell her, and he noticed the stink of the motorcycle gasoline wasn’t present.

Moving her other hand to a bruise on his neck, she forced him to look at her again. This was the closest they had been in quite some time and Ocelot felt his ears heating up despite himself. Trying to regain his composure, Ocelot breathed deeply before responding.

“None of your business.” Still refusing to let her know exactly what he had been up to, Ocelot tried to put up a barrier between them.

Eva smiled sadly, her face falling to a resigned expression, perhaps she had finally given up on trying on getting him to talk.

“I wish you would trust me just a little.” She sighed, her eyes dropping to the floor.

“I don’t trust anyone.” He shot back, telling her the mostly truth. Snake held some of his trust, but that was about it.

Her eyes went back to meet his once again and he saw the sorrow in them…either that or she was a better actress than he had given her credit for.

She closed the distance between them even more, this time wrapping her arms around his neck and resting her head on his shoulder. He didn’t know what to do, never had he been in a situation like this and he wasn’t sure how to react to it.

Both of them stayed silent for a while, neither of them moving away. Eva was the first to move, lifting her head to look him in the eyes. Ocelot wanted to look away, but that would show weakness and he refused to show any sort of weakness, so he maintained the eye contact.

He noticed her eyes drop down slightly to look at his lips and he could feel his heart hammering.

_She isn’t going to…kiss me…is she?_

She leaned in, Ocelot leaned away slightly, trying to keep a certain distance from her. If she noticed, she didn’t bring it up, instead she pressed her hand against the back of his neck, stopping any further retreat.

Ocelot knew he was trapped…unless he shoved her away completely…but could he bring himself to do so and let her know that he couldn’t handle this situation?

 

 ***

 

Eva knew Ocelot was very uncomfortable, but that didn’t stop her from trying to make him even more uncomfortable. She wanted to know how far he would let her go before he chickened out of this little game.

Placing her hand on the back of his neck to trap him in her approach, she noticed the almost wild and fearful look that passed across his face before he replaced his veneer of calm.

She was enjoying this immensely. Turning the usually collected Ocelot into an almost panicked and somewhat fearful mess was satisfying in ways that Eva couldn’t explain.

Leaning forwards again, this time meaning to finally capture his lips in a kiss, Eva closed her eyes.

A creaking sound made her pause.

She opened her eyes and looked at Ocelot, who was staring in what she would call abject horror at something behind her.

She sighed, knowing exactly what to expect as she turned around.

_Of course he couldn’t wait a few more minutes. I almost had him too…_

Eva turned and gave Snake a very pissed off glare, letting him know that he shouldn’t have come in.

Snake rubbed the back of his head apologetically and walked in and sat on the bed.

In the passing time, Ocelot had moved away from her and unconsciously moved closer to Snake, trying to distance himself from her.

She sighed overdramatically and left the room, calling it a night.

 ***

Snake knew he was in trouble with Eva…perhaps he should have waited a little longer to come in.

He looked over to Ocelot and blinked as he saw the mess that he had gotten himself into.

It looked like the kid had gotten into a pretty nasty fight and took quite a few hits. His face was covered in dark purple bruises and it looked like he had a split lip.

“What the hell were you doing today?” Ocelot huffed at the question, crossing his arms across his chest.

“Why does everyone want to know where I was? I’m not a child.” Snake motioned for the blond haired man to get closer to him so he could check out the damage. He hesitated, but then moved over and sat on the bed next to Snake.

Grabbing his friend’s face gently as to not cause him too much discomfort, Snake moved the other man’s head around, checking out the bruises. They looked to have been created from a strike with some sort of blunt weapon such as a wooden pole or something along those lines. Who the hell Ocelot would have even been fighting that would have had used such a weapon was beyond Snake’s comprehension.

Pressing lightly on one of the darker bruises, Snake took a dark pleasure in the grimace of pain that flashed across Ocelot’s face.

Letting go of Ocelot’s face, Snake watched as he rubbed the spot where he had applied pressure moments before as if it was going to ease the pain.

“You’ll live.” Snake smiled at him, earning a scowl from the other man.

“I know that.” If he hadn’t known Ocelot as long as he had, Snake would have thought that his response was haughty, but he knew that Ocelot was just trying to withhold his prideful demeanor despite having his ass handed to him from some other person.

Patting Ocelot’s leg in what he thought was a comforting way, Snake stood and walked to the door. He halted his departure as he reached the door. He turned to look once more at Ocelot.

“Whatever you do…” Snake paused to look out into the hallway, before looking back at Ocelot, “Don’t eat Eva’s ‘pot pie’…it’s really gross.” With that he spun around and left Ocelot alone, the younger’s laughter ringing out through the quiet hallways.

Snake had to admit, there wasn’t many sounds that he enjoyed so thoroughly as that kid’s laugh. It was a refreshing sort of sound…it was as if there wasn’t any troubles in the world. Heading to his own room for the night, Snake’s heart felt lighter than it had all day.

Tomorrow, Snake felt, was going to be a good day.

 


	3. This means war

Voices drifted into her room through the walls and she knew that her two companions were, yet again, both awake before her. Sitting up and stretching her arms over her head, relief settled in as her back cracked diffusing some of the pressure she had felt moments before. She rested her arms back down and tried listening in on Snake and Ocelot’s conversation, but they both were talking too quietly, like they did every morning, the need to ensure no one was listening in was engrained within all three of them.

She was still mad that Snake had ruined last night by walking in when he did, but apparently he couldn’t just wait like a normal person. She had wanted to see if Ocelot was going to chicken out or if he would let her kiss him…but she never got the chance to because of Snake. Now Ocelot was going to be on high alert around her and it was going to be a pain in the ass to try and ease him to let her around him again.

Finally deciding that it was time for her to get ready for the day, Eva stood, getting out of bed and stretching again. While getting dressed, she tried to figure out how to get Ocelot to relax around her after last night. Problem was, he could be very unpredictable so it was near impossible to figure out a single course of action.

Stepping out into the hallway, she shut her door out of habit and wandered into the kitchen. She blinked in surprise when she saw it was Ocelot sitting at the counter instead of Snake and Snake was the one in front of the stove cooking. Both men looked in her direction, silently acknowledging her entrance.

Last night had been a failure, but today was a new day and the games continued onwards and Eva was nowhere close to backing out yet. She glanced at Snake, then let her gaze rest on the blond haired man sitting at the island counter, his back to her. Her mind made up on her course of action, Eva smiled, giddy to see if today was the day the cool and composed Ocelot would crack under her ministrations.

She walked over to Ocelot and leaned against his back, resting her chin on his shoulder and wrapping an arm around his waist. She could feel how tense he had gotten as soon as she touched him, but that didn’t make her move away. Instead, his discomfort made her want to get even closer, pressuring him to crack.

She stood there, her chest pressed up against Ocelot’s back and the side of her face practically pressed up against his neck, watching Snake cook breakfast for the three of them, and she had to admit, she could get used to this. It had been years since she had lived in a domestic setting where she didn’t need to worry about spying and war, and she hadn’t ever thought twice about leaving her current life…but at this moment she wondered if maybe it wasn’t something she could warm up to.

Her train of thought derailed as Ocelot shifted against her, apparently seeing if he could shake her off without being obvious…too bad for him though, she wasn’t moving so easily.

Snake turned around and smiled widely at the sight.

“I’m glad to see you two getting along so well.” Eva knew without looking that Ocelot would have curled his lip in disgust, but she just smiled back at Snake.

“Yeah? I’m glad too…” a thought hit her and she ran with it, “…aren’t you too sweetie?” Pinching Ocelot’s cheek gently, she bit her lip at his incredulous face, trying so hard to not laugh.

She wasn’t sure how she managed to keep her composure, but she thanked her years of training in the art of espionage at that moment.

If she thought Ocelot was tense before, she felt him tense even more so, seemingly ready to spring up out of his seat and run if she tried anything else.

Snake looked at the blond haired man in confusion, before shaking his head and turning back to the pan on the stove. Apparently she wasn’t the only one who had problems understanding Ocelot most of the time.

Said-man turned his head towards her once Snake turned his back, glaring daggers at her. Blinking innocently at him, she smiled, trying to ease his tension…though she failed as she figured she would.

She decided to put him out of his misery and moved away, but not before kissing his cheek. She wasn’t expecting him to flinch away from her cheek peck so violently that he would fall off the stool where he had been seated moments before. Staring down at him, she covered her mouth with her hand, trying to stifle the laughter threatening to erupt from her mouth.

 

^^^^^

 

He couldn’t believe that he had just done that…

It was just a little kiss on his cheek…and he just had to flinch away and fall off the damn stool!?

In his defense though, it was unexpected and she disgusted him and he didn’t want her nasty mouth germs on his face anyways.

Glaring up at the mirth on her face, he pulled himself up then plopped back down on the stool, his posture screaming _leave me the fuck alone or else I may strangle you then shoot you in the head for good measure._

Neither of them questioned him about the fall, much to his great relief.

Snake eventually finished the food, scooping it onto three plates and giving each of them one. Ocelot thought his grin was nearly contagious…if he wasn’t in such a crappy mood.

Eva picked up her fork and poked her food inquisitively. “Uh…Snake? What is this exactly?” she smiled disarmingly. Staring down at his own plate, Ocelot wondered the same thing. He would have asked if Eva hadn’t beaten him to it…though he wouldn’t have been so nice about it.

“It’s an omelet.” Snake looked at her like she was crazy for not knowing what his yellow/green/brown chunky mess was.

“Oh.” She didn’t say anymore, not obviously not wanting to hurt his feelings. She glanced up at the two of them and then back down to her food, grabbing a glass of water to take a drink of that instead of risking taking the first bite of what Snake had made, hoping that one of the males would take the plunge and taste it first.

Ocelot was still mad about last night and this morning, and he figured, two could play at this game.

Picking up his fork and scooping up some of Snake’s omelet, Ocelot shoved it into his mouth, being the first to actually taste Snake’s creation.

He wanted to gag…

…but he managed to mask the urge and swallowed the mouthful before forcing a smile.

“It’s actually really good Snake.” He almost rolled his eyes at the way the other man’s face lit up with childish delight at his false compliment. It was actually really bad…but his words had apparently eased Eva’s tension at trying the food, just as he had hoped.

She placed her glass down and picked up her own utensil, finally willing to try the food. Forcing himself to take another bite so that she wouldn’t get suspicious, he held back a grimace as the overly peppered and wrongfully sugared egg concoction hit his tongue for a second time. Seriously…did he not check the label on the container to ensure it _wasn’t_ sugar he was putting into the omelet instead of the salt? Grabbing his own glass of water to chase down the offending food, he watched Eva over the lip of his glass. He made sure to not actually have anything in his mouth when she placed her fork in her mouth.

It had been worth the two mouthfuls he had eaten just to see the way her face distorted into a pained grimace of disgust as she realized…it wasn’t good…or even that edible in all honesty. Her eyes shot up to where Snake was and was glad to see that he had his back to her while he waited for the coffee pot to finish brewing his coffee. She spit the food globule into a napkin then took a few gulps of her water, but he knew personally, the water didn’t disguise the taste of the food.

She figured that out quickly though.

She glared at him, he just grinned back at her, letting her know that she wasn’t the only one who could play dirty. It looked as if she was going to say something, but Snake chose that moment to sit back down at the table with his coffee.

Standing up, Ocelot shoved his plate over to Snake, who looked up at him in confusion.

“I just remembered that Zero needed to talk to me once I had returned. I forgot to talk to him last night, so I figured that I should go find him now.” That seemed to do the trick as Snake nodded affirmatively before turning his full attention on his breakfast.

Walking to the kitchen door, he turned back to look at Eva one last time, not quite done with his turn in this game.

“Make sure you eat up _darling_ , breakfast is the most important meal of the day after all.” Stressing the fake nickname mockingly, Ocelot reveled in the furious glare she threw his way at being trapped with Snake’s version of an omelet.

Finally taking his leave from the kitchen, Ocelot decided that maybe there was some appeal in this game of theirs…though he knew that Snake didn’t see this as a game at all, but in fact saw it as an actual relationship on the line.

Snorting in annoyance, he shook his head as he was, yet again, reminded of how dense the American man was.

He headed over to the main headquarters of the Patriots, deciding that it wasn’t a bad idea to talk to Zero after all…since the man who had been teaching him the basics of interrogation met an…untimely demise.

 

^^^

 

Snake glanced at Ocelot’s plate and narrowed his eyebrows slightly. He hadn’t eaten much from his omelet and he knew that Ocelot hadn’t eaten anything after returning from wherever he was yesterday. He decided that he would make sure that the other man ate a hearty lunch later…and that Ocelot wouldn’t mind if he ate the rest of his omelet as well as his own.

Taking a bite, he paused in chewing noticing something was off. He glanced down at the omelet, but saw nothing wrong with it so he shrugged his shoulders and continued eating, the strange taste now at the back of his mind.

He noticed that Eva had only taken a few more bites since Ocelot had left.

“You should eat more, you could use it.” She smiled back at him, but he saw that it looked rather forced. Staring at her to urge her to eat more of her breakfast, he smiled as she finally took another bite, glad that she was eating something. He finished his two omelets and coffee and decided to wait for Eva to finish hers up before walking together.

After what seemed like a painstakingly long time, she finished her food and placed her plate and his plates into the sink to be cleaned later.

“Alright, let’s go.” He stood up to follow her and they started on their way to the other part of the building.

“So…you and Ocelot sure seem closer now.” Snake glanced over to his blonde companion who smiled in response.

“Yeah, we are aren’t we?” She stared at him, and he saw how happy she looked and he knew he had made the right decision in trying to help them hook up.

“So…how far have you two gone?” She looked shocked to hear him say something like that. What did she take him for? Some overly dense man who couldn’t understand or gossip about relationships?

She chuckled, then punched his arm playfully, a big grin across her face.

“Well, we would have had our first kiss last night if _someone_ hadn’t walked in on us.” _Oops…no wonder why she was mad at me last night…_

He grinned sheepishly at her and was glad when she shook her head, a smile still on her face showing that she wasn’t all that mad at him for that.

“Sorry.” He figured it didn’t hurt to apologize for his actions though.

“Just don’t do it again, okay?” He agreed, but couldn’t help but mess with her.

“Right, besides…knowing you it will only be a few days and you’ll be having sex with him and I wouldn’t want to walk in on that.” He grinned at her, but his smile dropped as he noticed she had grown angry.

“What the hell does that mean!?” yep…definitely mad…but he didn’t know why. She continued before he could respond, “Are you calling me a whore!?”

Blinking in confusion, he shook his head negatively.

“No, that’s not what I meant. I meant that…well…during Operation Snake Eater…you sure seemed eager to…” he was cut off by Eva, who seemed to grow angrier with every word out of his mouth.

“Oh? So just because of that I’m just going to fuck any man within a few days of meeting them huh?” Her hands were on her hips and she was glaring daggers at him. He rubbed the back of his neck in discomfort…he really hated it when he said something stupid and made his friends mad at him…even though he didn’t mean it in the way that they had taken it.

“Well…technically…you’ve known Ocelot for eight years…” He shrugged his shoulders uneasily, wanting her temper to simmer out and go back to normal.

“…” he got no response for that one…and he didn’t know whether to take that as a good or a bad sign.

He was thankful when they reached the common rooms and he waved happily at Para-medic, who waved back.

He walked over to the other woman, the one that wasn’t currently angry with him, and smiled at her, bidding her a good morning. He heard Eva huff and stomp out of the room, leaving Snake to hope that her anger would be forgotten over time.

“What did you do to make her mad?” he turned his attention to Para-medic and shrugged, his shoulders drooping afterwards.

“I’m not really sure…you know how women can get sometimes.” He didn’t miss the way her eye twitched in what he assumed was annoyance. Hightailing it out of the room completely to avoid yet another fight, he figured that finding another male to hang out around would be the safest course of action.

Nearing Zero’s office, he nearly bumped into the door as it opened to reveal Ocelot leaving the head of the Patriots’ domain.

“Hey Ocelot.” Snake smiled, glad to see the younger man…someone who wasn’t currently mad at him.

“Snake.” He nodded his head in acknowledgement and Snake was glad to hear that his tone was friendly.

“Want to spar with me?” Snake turned to lead the other man towards the gym where they could go all out in their ongoing competition…though Snake always ended on top, with Ocelot flat on his ass.

“You just assume that I’m going to agree?” Snake froze mid-step, groaning out loud in utmost annoyance. Snake turned towards the blond man and frowned at him, earning him a chuckle. “I didn’t say I wouldn’t…it’s just funny how you instantly assume I’m going to agree.” Snake just about sighed in relief, turning and continuing to his destination, this time the other man right behind him.

Entering the gym room, Snake inhaled deeply, taking a pleasure in the familiar smell of the rubber mats and metal. Spinning around to face Ocelot, he nearly jumped at how close they were…if he leaned forwards just a bit he could kiss him…

Snake blinked surprised…did he really just think that? Kiss him? He shook his head to rid the strange thought and moved back a bit then punched the Russian on the arm, taking him by surprise.

Ocelot retaliated, swinging his left arm to hit Snake on the right arm, which was easily deflected and countered by the American man, only to be blocked by the other man. Swinging his left arm towards Ocelot then stopping just before he actually hit him, Snake realized they hadn’t even gotten to the mats in the center of the room before they had started exchanging blows and he started laughing.

Staring at him in bewilderment, the younger man glanced around to try to figure out what Snake found so funny.

Snake couldn’t pass up the opportunity of taking advantage of the younger’s slipped guard…and figured it would teach him a lesson as well. Sweeping his leg towards Ocelot, Snake knocked the other man off his feet and onto the hard floor.

“You shouldn’t let your guard down around an enemy.” Snake chuckled as Ocelot rubbed his sore butt and huffed at him. Snake offered his hand to Ocelot to help him up.

“Didn’t think you were my enemy anymore.” Ocelot muttered, glancing at the offered hand suspiciously, but then reached out and grabbed his hand. _Another mistake._

First pulling Ocelot up off the ground then using the momentum to flip the other man onto his back yet again, Snake laughed as Ocelot growled at him.

“Damn it Snake!” Glaring at the hand that Snake offered again, he shoved it away from him opting to pull himself up off the ground, dusting his pants off.

“Well, I suppose you aren’t my enemy…but hypothetically…” Ocelot cut him off with a snort.

“If you were my enemy I wouldn’t have let my guard down…besides you were cheating by laughing to distract me.” Snake shook his head good-naturedly at his friend.

“You never know what the enemy will do to distract you, so you best be prepared to encounter anything.” Ocelot laughed, turning to head further into the gym where they could really let loose against each other.

“No Snake…I have never met any enemy that have employed ridiculous tactics like you do. I doubt that I ever will.” Snake shrugged, both of them dropping the conversation as they reached the mats and readied for the sparring session that was sure to leave them sore and bruised the next day.

And he knew that neither of them would have it any other way.

 

^^^

 

Throughout the day, Eva’s anger at Snake did dissipate, though wasn’t completely forgotten by the time lunch rolled around.

Strolling into the kitchen, she glanced at Snake who was sitting at the island counter. She then turned her gaze to Ocelot who was, thankfully, the one to be making their lunch. She noticed he was walking stiffly and she assumed that he and Snake must have sparred earlier that day. Grinning as an idea hit her, she fully entered the kitchen and smiled at Snake when he turned his head to look at her, his eye widening as he noticed her. She walked over and sat next to Snake at the counter and watched as Ocelot worked diligently, focused on the task before him. She had to admit, she found Ocelot’s dedication to whatever he put his mind to endearing…even if the task was as simple as making sandwiches for the three of them. Not for the first time, she got a fuzzy feeling in her stomach as she thought about how much she enjoyed being part of this.

Not necessarily the Patriots themselves…but the trio of them. Her, Snake and Ocelot spent more time together than any of the other members and she felt like they could very well become lifelong friends, while the others, Para-medic, Sigint, and Zero, would come and go as their friends. But a friendship like theirs would persist throughout the years…but then again, she figured she could be wrong…but she hoped that she wasn’t wrong because she honestly loved both of them.

She had fallen for Snake during Operation Snake Eater, his good looks and charming personality (at times) wooing her quickly and making her fall for him hard. She was excited when he had come to find her in Hanoi, though she had been disappointed when she realized that he didn’t really want to try a relationship with her after what had happened in ’64. But she couldn’t blame him since what she did was kinda a damper on their budding relationship…

Then there was Ocelot. She had almost killed him and he had almost killed her…but they were both stopped from doing so. She never had hated him…he had just been her enemy at the time…and he was kinda annoying, but he had matured over the past eight years. There was something that drew her to Ocelot though…but she couldn’t figure out what exactly it was. This game of theirs was something that she didn’t mind because it gave her an excuse to try and get closer to the younger man and attempt to figure out what it was that drew her to him. And she had to admit, he wasn’t bad looking.

Breaking her out of her thoughts, Ocelot placed a plate with a sandwich on it in front of her.

“Thank you.” Smiling at the other blond, she nearly shook her head in amusement at his suspicious stare. She could almost see the cogs in his head turning, trying to figure out what she was planning.

_Oh, you’ll find out soon enough…but not now._

He eventually turned away from her, but kept her in his peripheral vision, not letting her get out of his sights so that she could try something like what she did this morning. She just smiled, amused at how paranoid he had gotten. Later, she would put her next plan into action, but now was not the right time.

Looking down at the sandwich he had placed in front of her, she briefly wondered where he had learned how to be…well…decent in the kitchen. Snake didn’t seem to know how to cook to save his life, unless it was over an open fire. And she was never required to learn how to cook since the Philosophers charm school she attended always provided them with good cuisine. So she found it interesting that Ocelot had a basic knowledge of cooking…though she figured it was something she would never learn from the man.

After the three of them finished eating, Ocelot washed the plates from lunch and the plates from breakfast. Another thing that amazed her…he seemed rather tidy, always making sure the place stayed clean. She figured it was from his upbringing, and saw no point in questioning him about it.

She glanced between the two men curiously. They had both been rather quiet during lunch, having only exchanged a few words between them. Breaking the silence that had befallen the kitchen, Eva addressed both men.

“You guys doing anything later?” They glanced, first at each other, then at her.

“Not really. I was thinking about catching something for dinner if you wanted to join me though.” Eva wrinkled her nose at Snake’s suggestion.

“Uh, no thanks. I’ll leave you to do that.” She then turned her attention to the other blond who stared back at her. “What about you?”

“I’ve got to make a few calls back to my comrades in the Soviet Union…other than that I’ve got nothing to do…why?” He narrowed his at her suspiciously, though at this point she was used to his suspicion towards her…even in Groznyj Grad he was always suspecting her of being a spy. Of course he was right…but he was also a hypocrite.

“Comrades?” Snake questioned, giving Ocelot a confused look.

“Well, yeah. I _am_ Zero’s Soviet contact, so I need to maintain my position within the Soviet Union.” Ocelot explained to allay Snake’s unease at the thought that he may be betraying them in favor of the Soviets.

“Oh. Makes sense.” Snake glanced down at the ground, then lifted his head to look at Ocelot. “Want to help me catch dinner?” Ocelot snorted, shaking his head.

“No way, besides…what are you going to catch anyways? More squirrels?” Ocelot teased Snake, jabbing at his ribs playfully.

“No…” Pushing the gloved hand away from his sensitive ribs, Snake countered the jab with his own, “I’m sure I can find something else…something tastier.” Ocelot snorted in amusement, shrinking away from the prodding hand who suddenly realized that Ocelot may actually be ticklish and decided to attack him further, attempting to make the younger man laugh.

 The scene made Eva smile. Snake trying to tickle Ocelot and Ocelot trying to keep Snake from tickling him. Watching the two of them made her wish that she had the closeness that they shared. It seemed like they had been friends for years, but she knew that they had only recently, a year ago perhaps, allowed themselves to drop any pretense of being enemies and relax around each other, become friends.

“Stop that Snake.” Moving further away from Snake, Ocelot tried to prevent him from starting the attack up again. “Aren’t you going to catch your animals?” He tried to distract Snake from his attack, and shoo him out of the battle zone to a much safer place…well at least safer for his ribs. Eva watched as Snake grinned widely, and she knew that he was planning something.

“Of course I will. And I know just what animal I want to catch first.” Snake stepped towards Ocelot, who took a step back, maintaining the distance between them.

 

^^^

 

Ocelot’s gaze never left Snake’s, never let him closer to him than about five feet. Something about the way he said that left him nervous, he didn’t know what Snake meant by that…what animal was he planning on catching? A bear perhaps?

Snake kept walking towards him, making him walk backwards in order to maintain his distance. Why was he getting so close?

“Well…you best go and get looking for your animal then.” Ocelot tried to reason with Snake, who grinned even wider.

“Oh, I know where my animal is already. I don’t need to look for him.” Snake said, pausing in his movement, his eye never leaving Ocelot.

Ocelot glanced at Eva who was standing behind Snake and smiling at him and waved teasingly at him. Snake’s words finally hit him as he understood what _animal_ he was going after. It must have shown on his face that he understood what Snake was getting at because he lunged towards him, managing to tackle him to the ground. Struggling beneath the American, Ocelot tried to shove him off, but he was still rather sore from that morning’s spar and found it harder to earn the upper hand. After a few moments of twisting and bucking to get the other off of him, Ocelot realized it was futile. Laying back in surrender, Ocelot glared up at the one-eyed man who was happily perched on his stomach.

Snake turned his head to Eva, the grin still on his face.

“I caught myself a wild Ocelot.” Eva giggled, walking over to where they are to look down at him…pinned under Snake’s weight.

“Yep, you did. You going to eat him?” Her grin changing to a more sinister aura…and he knew exactly what she meant by that. Stupid woman…of course she tried to turn it into a sex based thing…he…just hoped that Snake wouldn’t get her double entendre.

“No. I don’t think he’d be very nutritious.” Snake looked down at him and poked his stomach, making him flinch away at the touch. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Snake to not hurt him…it was just that he had a hard time getting used to people touching him…especially when they tried to tickle him. “He’s too scrawny.”

Ocelot scoffed. “Too scrawny? I am not scrawny.” Narrowing his eyes at Snake, he couldn’t help but be relieved when he realized Snake didn’t get Eva’s sex joke.

“Please don’t get mad at me. I’m tired of everyone being mad at me.” Snake sighed, carding his hand through his hair and Ocelot couldn’t help but wonder if his hair was coarse or soft.

“Then get off of me.” Ocelot shook his previous train of thought away in order to snap at the other man, who did as he asked, helping him up as well.

“You know Snake…I wasn’t asking if you were going to consume Ocelot like a meal.” Eva told Snake, but smirked at Ocelot, her blue eyes meeting his challengingly. He couldn’t believe that she was doing this right now…was she trying to tell Snake what she meant to embarrass him?

“You…weren’t? Then what did you mean?” Snake glanced at Eva then over to Ocelot, noticing the tension between the two spies.

“Why don’t you ask Ocelot?” She spun around and walked out of the room, her posture screaming _I win this round_. But she hadn’t…not on his watch anyways. Snake turned to look at him, but that was the last thing on his mind right then.

“What did she mean by asking if I was going to eat you?” He looked over to Snake and smiled almost sweetly.

“Nothing. Don’t worry about it Snake.” He left Snake standing alone in the kitchen in utmost confusion. He needed to contact his comrades in the USSR…but then he’d take his revenge on Eva. She was getting much too cocky in this battle, and it was about time to show her he wasn’t afraid of anything she threw in his direction.

This was the beginning of war…and he refused to go down without a good fight.

 

^^^

 

Snake pouted, huffing at his friends.

_If they weren’t going to tell me…then I’ll go find someone who will._

Heading back to the other building, Snake was happy, for the second time that day, to see Para-Medic sitting in the common room. Making his way over to her, he stared down at her until she looked up at him and smiled almost awkwardly.

“Can I help you with something Snake?” Para-Medic questioned him, shifting in her seat and placing her book down slightly.

“What does it mean when someone asks if you are going to eat someone?” Snake asked, successfully confusing one of the two women in the Patriots.

“Eat someone?” She echoed back, trying to figure out if she had heard him right.

“Yeah…but not like a meal.” Clarifying what he was wondering himself, she chuckled softly.

“Come on Snake. Do you really not know?” She looked at him, her green eyes alight with amusement. Snake frowned…it was as if everyone but him knew what Eva meant by eating someone. She took that as a no, and finally put him out of his confused misery.

“It’s a sex joke Snake. Oral sex can be considered to be eating someone …so something like a blowjob would be considered _eating them._ ” Snake stared at her, his face feeling a tad bit warmer than it had a few moments ago. _Oh…that’s what she meant…_

“Where did this come from anyways?” She said, breaking him out of his thoughts.

“Uh…Eva asked me if I was going to eat Ocelot after I caught him…but neither of them would tell me what she meant by that…so I asked you instead.” She just laughed, earning a couple reluctant chuckles from him.

“I see. So…” She trailed off, her silent question hanging in the air, causing him to frown.

“No. I didn’t.” Turning and leaving Para-Medic with her book, Snake wondered why Eva would ask him something like that.

Him and Ocelot?

He couldn’t do that to his friends…if he made a move on Ocelot, then poor Eva would be left out. Besides, Ocelot liked Eva, not him…so he wouldn’t even agree to something like that…

…would he?

Walking back to the other building, Snake saw that the other two were gone to who knows where. Wandering outside, Snake put it out of his mind in favor of a little hunting. Glancing around the perimeter of the building, he soon realized he would have to go further out in order to find any wild animals for dinner.

It was out here that he was able to forget about any problems and just live in the moment.

Starting his search for any signs of animals, he couldn’t help but wonder what was going on with Ocelot and Eva…

At times they seemed close and at others they were at each other’s throats…

He had to admit…he was curious to see how it all turned out.


	4. Fool Proof

Eva was sitting in the living area when Snake returned from his little hunting trip. Ocelot was nowhere to be seen…but then again that was common for the wildcat, so Snake didn’t think much about his whereabouts.

Dragging the body of the deer behind him, Snake smiled at Eva when she looked up at him. He saw her eyes drop to his catch and she made a disgusted face.

“Ugh…do you really have to bring that thing in here?” He frowned at that, glancing at the plump deer.

“How else am I going to show it off?” Snake questioned her, earning an eye roll from the woman who muttered something that he couldn’t catch.

“Go do it outside, that’s disgusting Snake.” Huffing and dragging the body back outside, Snake was reminded that a lot of women didn’t make sense. How else did she think that meat was prepared? That it just magically appeared in those packages that you could buy at the supermarket?

He was about halfway done with cleaning the deer for dinner when Ocelot joined him outside. Snake looked up at the blond shortly, his eye returning back to the task at hand.

“Come to tell me that my deer is gross…or did you come to help?” Snake felt somewhat bad for being snarky with the kid…but he had felt so proud that he had found and caught the animal…and Eva just blew it off, ruining his good mood.

“Did you need help?” He looked up at the younger man in surprise. Thinking about it…he didn’t need help with the animal…but he supposed that Ocelot could help with the fire that would roast the carcass.

“Can you start a fire?” Snake returned to cleaning the deer, watching Ocelot out of the corner of his eye.

“Of course I can.” Snake chuckled when he huffed, sounding offended. He really could be too proud sometimes.

Snake left Ocelot to start up a fire only looking over to the other man when he heard the telltale click of a lighter. Sure enough, the man had a lighter and was using it to ignite the timber he had gathered and formed into a spit for the deer.

“I didn’t think you smoked.” Why else would someone carry around a lighter? Snake honestly didn’t see Ocelot as the kind that would smoke…and he never had smelled it on him, so he mustn’t smoke often if he did.

“I don’t.” He blew on the smoldering embers in order to increase the size of the blaze.

“Then why do you carry around a lighter?” He couldn’t fathom why Ocelot would carry one around if he didn’t smoke…hell, Snake _did_ smoke and he almost never had a lighter on him. Thinking about it…Ocelot was always the one who lit his cigars for him, so there was never a need to carry around a lighter in his mind.

“Well…” Snake saw Ocelot’s ears turn a deep red before he turned to face away from the older man, “…you never seem to carry one around and you just expect me to light your cigars for you so I need to have on one me.” Letting a smile wash over his face, Snake felt a small tug on his heart. _He carries it around for me, since I never have one anyways._

Walking over to place his hand on the younger man’s shoulder, Snake felt him flinch away from his touch slightly, but right before he moved his hand away he felt him relax under his touch, so he left his hand where it was.

“Thanks then. I appreciate that.” He noticed the way the Ocelot refused to meet his gaze, but didn’t question him about…he didn’t want to scare the boy away since even he could tell how uncomfortable he was in that moment.

“Don’t mention it. It’s not important anyways.” Ocelot shrugged his shoulders minutely, gaze fixed on the now blazing fire.

“It’s important to me. How else could I light my cigars?” Snake smiled as the blond laughed, then stood up to look him in the eye for the first time since coming out to join him. They stared at each other for what seemed like a long time, neither of them quite willing to break their gaze from the other man. Eventually, Ocelot nodded at him a smile on his face and turned to walk back inside. Snake watched as he headed for the door and he couldn’t help the disappointment that washed over him. He wanted to call Ocelot back and have him stay out there with him…but he wasn’t sure what it was that held him back from calling out to him.

He watched Ocelot’s back until it disappeared into the building then he turned to look at the deer’s body and the fire. Placing the carcass over the fire, Snake sat on a nearby log and gazed emptily into the fire, feeling more alone now than he had in a long time.

 

^^^

 

Eva looked up as Ocelot walked in the door and smiled disarmingly at him, earning a wary glance from the man.

“So _sweetie..._ did you see Snake’s catch?” She asked conversationally…though she only brought it up so she could tease him a bit.

“Don’t call me that _bitch_.” Sheesh…she didn’t like her nickname as much. She smiled back at him anyways, not letting him know that she cared what he called her.

“So…did you?” He rolled his eyes at her, apparently already having caught on to her game.

“Yeah, I did. Now if you’ll leave me alone…” he trailed off, obviously not wanting to talk to her any longer.

“Ah, but where’s the fun in that?” She chuckled at his exasperated sigh, she knew with a little more prodding he would snap. He could be rather predictable at times and she loved riling him up, watching him get wound up until he visibly got to the point of snapping if she poked at him any further.

Instead of responding, he glared at her, moving further away from her and making his way out of the room. Like a hawk circles its prey after spotting it, Eva stood and followed the man out of the living area and down the hallway to his room. She stayed only a few paces behind him, so she almost rammed into him when he suddenly stopped at his door and spun around to face her.

“Do you mind?” it was a rhetorical question really…he just wanted her out of his hair, but he was wrong if he thought it would be that easy to get rid of her.

“No. Not really.” A grin across her face, she tried to look as sweet as possible since she knew that it bothered him greatly. He groaned in annoyance and walked into his room, shutting the door behind him, right in her face.

She smiled nonetheless, knowing that these doors don’t have locks.

Waiting a few moments, Eva opened the door and just about laughed when she heard Ocelot groan in annoyance again. Walking into the room and shutting the door behind her, she locked her eyes on Ocelot. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, his right hand covering his eyes, trying to keep his calm. Striding the short distance from the door to the bed, Eva decided that it was now or never for her next plan.

 

^^^

 

Upon hearing her footsteps coming closer, he uncovered his eyes to try to see what she was up to, but was met with a hard shove causing him to fall onto his back, his legs dangling over the edge still. He was in shock, not knowing what was going on.

She crawled on top of him on the bed, tugging him further onto the bed and turning him so his feet were on the bed as well. He was unable to fully process what the hell was happening as it was all happening so quickly. By the time he processed her actions, she was straddling his waist and he was unable to get up.

“What the _fuck_ are you doing?!” He glared up at the woman who looked far too proud for subduing him…though in his defense, he wasn’t ready for her attack…and had never been in a situation like this anyways.

“Oh, just shut up and enjoy this okay?” His eyes widened considerably at what she was saying and all he could do is splutter out nonsense, trying to form a coherent thought along the lines of _“Get the hell off of me”_ or _“No way bitch, so get out of here before you regret ever stepping in my room”…_ but nothing could quite form right.

She started rubbing his shoulders, still sore from his and Snake’s sparring session earlier that day…and he regretted to admit that it felt real nice.

Her hands worked at his sore muscles, making him relax under her ministrations against his own will. Any harsh words aimed at her were melted under her touch. Her rubbing dropped lower to his chest and he was almost horrified to realize that he was _letting_ her massage him…he knew that this was just stupid plan of hers…but it just felt so _nice._

 

^^^

 

Eva knew that she had already won this round when Ocelot let out a sound that was somewhere between a groan and a moan. Letting her hands move further down his body to his stomach, she worked any sort of knots in his muscles, letting herself get lost in what she was doing. If there was one thing she could appreciate, it was a strong, handsome man…and she wasn’t going to let an opportunity like this pass her up.

Glancing up at his face, she smiled as she saw he had covered his face with the crook of his arm, obviously torn between telling her to _fuck off_ and begging her to continue. Scooting down from his waist to his thighs, she situated herself and hoped that he wouldn’t try to get up now since it would be much easier for him to shove her off him where she was sitting.

He didn’t move, so she took it as a green light. Running her hands across his muscular thighs, she rubbed first his right leg, then his left, staying close to his knees as to not spook him…yet.

She was amazed at how complacent he was right then…she figured he would have yelled at her to go away by now…but apparently he was pretty sore, just as she had hoped for, and enjoyed the relaxing touch.

Slowly, she started making her way upwards, eventually moving to his upper thigh and paused there. Her eyes locked onto his face, searching for any signs of him thinking of moving away from her…but saw none, so she continued upwards.

Biting her lip, she let her hands get very close to where his cock was, but skirted around the sensitive area cautiously. A moan coming from the man under her caused her grin.

_He’s enjoying this is he? Well…let’s see how far he’ll let me go then._

Shifting her position so she was more comfortable, she went back to work, her hands running up his inner thigh and stopping right before she got too close to his cock. There was almost nothing that she enjoyed more than teasing a man until they _begged_ for her to do more…and she wanted to hear the normally composed Ocelot beg for her attention.

He shifted under her and her eyes shot up to his still covered face. She could see that his face was red and he seemed to be breathing heavier and she knew she almost had him right where she wanted him.

Getting back to work she caressed his inner thigh before resolving to go further. Ghosting her hand over his clothed cock, her thoughts ran rampant. She hadn’t been with a man for eight years…and she was starting to get a little antsy. She noticed for the first time that she was becoming aroused from her own ministrations. She shifted and she noticed that her panties had started to become wet from her arousal.

She was supposed to be getting him all worked up and aroused…yet here she was doing it to herself as well. Noticing she had stopped her massaging, she glanced up to Ocelot’s face to see if he had taken notice of her pause.

She nearly jumped as she met his blue eyes staring straight at her, a wicked grin across his face.

“What’s the matter Eva?” He asked, his voice unaffected by any sort of arousal he may have felt. There has never been a time more than then that she wanted to slap his cocky grin off his goddamn face.

Bristling under his pompous questioning, Eva glowered at the Russian.

“Now why do you think there is something wrong?” sugarcoating her voice to sweeten the bitterness she felt, she knew she needed to regain the upper hand.

“Besides, wouldn’t you rather be thinking nothing at all?” Reaching down to squeeze what she had avoided to that point, she savored in the hiss he released at her fondling.

He threw his head back and she leaned over him, throwing any pretense of this being part of some plan to leave him high and dry while aroused. She tried to plant a kiss on his lips, but he turned his head away from hers at the last second, her lips connecting with his cheek instead. Planting a few smaller kisses down his face and to his neck, she paused when she felt his hand on her cheek.

She met his gaze and was surprised to see the softness in his gaze. His thumb rubbed against her cheek and she leaned into his gentle touch. Her chest was heaving in anticipation and she couldn’t deny that she was highly aroused. Just thinking about him ravishing her in the most primal way possible brought warmth to her face and she felt silly…afterall…she was a 35 year old woman and she was fantasizing like a teenage girl…

“Eva…” his breathy voice brought her back from her thoughts and she focused on the man underneath her. He ran his hand from her cheek down her neck to her arm. Her eyes followed his hands path and she paused as he just stroked her arm gently.

Turning her eyes back to his face, she stomach dropped as she saw the fiendish grin splitting his face. She opened her mouth to say something, but couldn’t as she was suddenly airborne. Landing all too suddenly on her backside on the hard floor, she was in shock. Her eyes snapped to Ocelot as he stood off the bed and he walked to stand right in front of her.

“Nice try _bitch…_ but you’ll have to try harder than that to win.” She was speechless, he seemed completely unaffected by everything that just happened and here she was on the floor, her wet panties sticking to her uncomfortably. She couldn’t even say anything as he walked out of the room, leaving her there on the floor like nothing had just happened.

She sat there for a few minutes, trying to compose herself before standing on wobbly legs and leaving the wildcat’s den. Looking out the front window she saw that Ocelot had rejoined Snake outside by the fire.

There was something wrong with that man…

…nobody could resist her charms…

Though one face popped to the forefront of her mind, disproving her previous statement. The only person that could in fact resist her charms had been Raikov back in ’64…but he had been gay…so unless Ocelot was completely gay and not bisexual like she had figured before…her charms should have worked.

A thought hit her and she laughed out loud in the quiet building.

Maybe Ocelot is just Big Bossexual…

 

^^^

 

The deer was nearly finished roasting when Ocelot rejoined Snake outside, earning a lopsided smile from the older man who was glad to have company again.

“It’s just about done.” Snake said, tilting his head in the direction of the deer.

They sat in relative silence, the only sound being the crackling of the burning wood. Once the deer was finished in Snake’s standards, he turned to his friend who looked to be deep in thought.

“Where’s Eva?” Snake asked, holding out part of a leg to Ocelot, who stared at it for a few moments before grabbing it from Snake.

“Inside.” Snake frowned at his friend’s terse and rather cold sounding answer. _Weren’t they getting along?_

Just then Eva walked out, her face showed how pissed off she was at that moment. Snake glanced at Ocelot, who didn’t even look in the woman’s direction. She sat down closer to Snake, shooting the blond man a dirty look.

Trying to ease some of the tension that had befallen upon them, Snake handed Eva some of the deer. He frowned again at the way she lifted her lip in disgust at the sight of the deer he had spent so much time tracking and then hunting. She accepted the meat though and starting nibbling at it.

After fifteen minutes, Snake couldn’t stand the silence any longer.

“What happened between you two?” his question was met with four eyes that all burned with varying intensities of anger.

“Nothing Snake.” He looked at Ocelot, unbelieving that there had been nothing that happened. Hoping that Eva would elaborate on the subject, he stared at her intently.

“Yep, nothing happened.” She refused to look at either of them and focused instead on her meat. He wanted to sigh…these two are ridiculous…and ridiculously stubborn.

“Fine. Don’t tell me what the problem is, but if you think that I’m so blockheaded that I’m not going to notice when something has happened then whatever, I don’t want to talk to either of you either.” He left the two of them around the fire to get some well-deserved sleep after a nice warm and relaxing shower.

 

^^^

 

Ocelot didn’t want to stay around Eva alone, so he stood and put the smoldering embers out, ensuring that they wouldn’t ignite the dead brush nearby and left Eva alone. Partway to the building, he heard her following him and hurried inside to get as far from her as possible.

He really didn’t think he could push her away from him a second time if she jumped him like she had before.

He may be attracted to Snake…but he was a man with needs…needs that he could usually ignore.

Getting to his room and shutting the door, he stood nearby and listened for Eva’s footsteps. He couldn’t afford her to try something like that again, but he relaxed when he heard her pass by his room and enter her own.

This game was becoming dangerous…he needed to put an end to it soon…but the problem was how?

Maybe Snake would just forget about all of this if he kept his distance from Eva…

…he could hope…couldn’t he?

 

^^^

 

Snake woke early the next morning and he waited for both Eva and Ocelot to wake up. He had thought that he wasn’t needed any further in advancing their relationship…but he had been wrong apparently.

Running his fingers over the cool metal, he smirked…this plan had to work. He had run through all the pros and cons of his plan last night and he eventually decided that it was nearly fool-proof. Turning his head in the direction of the bedrooms, Snake smiled as he heard that Ocelot was awake. Picking up the most important part of his plan, he placed it gently into his pants pocket, making sure he could easily grab it when needed.

Within a few minutes, the youngest of the trio walked into the kitchen, pausing when he saw Snake already in there.

“Good morning.” Ocelot yawned, his slight Russian accent slipping through his sleep-deprived greeting.

“Morning.” Snake was as chipper as he usual, excited to see his plan in action.

“What do you want for breakfast?” Ocelot shuffled further into the kitchen to peek into the ice-box and see what they had.

“You know…toast and eggs would be fine.” Snake didn’t really put much thought, for once, into what he wanted to eat for breakfast…his mind wandering to when the other blonde would wake up.

“’Kay…” Snake glanced at the other man…noticing that he didn’t seem to have gotten much sleep the night before. He was going to ask if everything was alright…he didn’t like seeing his best friend so miserable looking…but Eva took that moment to enter to kitchen, also looking like she hadn’t slept too well last night.

They ate breakfast in silence and after Ocelot had cleared the table, Snake was ready.

“Hey…” that earned both their attention so Snake continued, “I heard that women’s wrists are more slender than men’s…but I don’t that’s true” Snake earned two incredulous faces and he couldn’t help but think about how similar they could be at times.

“And why wouldn’t it be true?” Eva mused, obviously amused at his question.

“I just don’t see why they would be different…” Snake was glad that Eva didn’t seem to think much about his weird questions…but Ocelot on the other hand was giving him a strange look.

“Well…I mean, women tend to be smaller than men, so their wrists would be smaller too.” Eva told him, humming slightly in amusement.

“I still don’t think so…” Snake huffed, crossing his arms across his chest.

“Does it really matter Snake?” Ocelot inquired, not seeing the humor in the situation.

“Yes…why don’t you compare your wrist to Eva’s…see whose is bigger…” Snake suggested, hoping that Ocelot would agree to his strange request. The other man sighed as if he couldn’t believe he was agreeing to this and held his arm out towards Eva who held her arm against his.

Snake jumped into action and pulled the handcuffs from his pockets and snapped one side on Ocelot’s wrist and the other on Eva’s. He moved back to bask in his success. They were both staring in disbelief at the handcuffs around their wrists, before looking up at his beaming face.

“What the _fuck_ Snake!? Get this off of me right now!” Ocelot growled at the brunet who shook his head.

“No!? Snake, you _can’t_ leave me handcuffed to him.” Eva tried to reason with him, to no avail.

“Nope. You two will have to work your problems out now.” Snake told them, starting to walk out of the kitchen.

“Where the fuck do you think you are going!?” Ocelot started to follow Snake and in the process dragged Eva along with him by the wrist.

“Ow! Ow! Ocelot stop! That hurts!” Eva whined, trying to get the younger man to stop tugging on her arm, since the cold metal of the handcuff was digging into the tender flesh of her wrist.

He actually listened to her and stopped, looking back to her in annoyance.

“Then come on. Use your goddamn legs and walk.” He really was a charmer wasn’t he? Snake went to his room to get ready for the upcoming day. He could hear when they entered his room, and he looked over his shoulder at them, a smile across his face.

“You’ll thank me for this later.” Snake turned his attention back to his bags, double checking he had everything he needed.

“I highly doubt that. Unlock them.” Ocelot obviously didn’t see the pros of his situation…but he had a few days to do so.

Shouldering his bag, Snake turned to face Ocelot and Eva.

“What are you doing?” Ocelot’s eyes had widened as he saw the bag Snake was carrying.

“I have a mission to do. You two need to work out your problems.” Snake walked past them, but heard them following him. “I’ll be back in maybe…three days. Five at most.” Lacing up his combat boots and heading to the front door, he turned to get a good look at his handy work.

“You’re kidding…please tell me you’re kidding Snake.” Snake laughed at Ocelot’s obvious discomfort.

“I’m sorry junior…but no. I’m not. See you later.” With that he spun around, the door slamming shut behind him, leaving two people who couldn’t believe what had just happened.

 


	5. No Escape

Unbelieving and in utter shock, Ocelot stared at the door that Snake had left through, leaving him handcuffed to Eva. He looked down at the metal cuffs around his and Eva’s wrists and was highly disappointed to see that they were sturdy cuffs, not going to be easily broken. Raising his free hand to run down his face to try to calm the bubbling fury, he had no idea how he was going to survive the next three days. He did know that Snake was a dead man the next time he showed his goddamn face.

He turned his gaze to the woman next to him and was at least glad that she seemed to be distraught about the situation. Huffing in annoyance, Ocelot drew Eva’s attention at last.

“I cannot believe he did this to us.” Eva said, lifting her hand slightly to emphasize what she was talking about, even though he knew without her emphasis exactly what she was referring to…it was pretty obvious.

“And he is going to regret doing so when he gets back.” Ocelot growled in irritation, sending the handcuffs a death glare as if they would melt off due to his burning fury. He sent his glare to the blonde when she started to laugh.

“And what would _you_ be able to do to Snake when he gets back?” She was mocking him. Surely she knew that was a stupid thing to do right now…his already short temper was cut even shorter due to his so called friend’s actions.

“Are you trying to imply that I’m too weak to…” He started on his tirade but she cut him off prematurely

“No, I’m not. I’m saying that you care too much for Snake to do anything drastic in retaliation.” Damn this woman and her know it all attitude…he knew she was right though...he wouldn’t be able to do anything to Snake to make him pay. He still felt bad about shooting his eye out back in Groznyj Grad…

His silence must have shown Eva that she had been spot on since she smiled, and it annoyed him to no end.

“We’ll get through this…you just have to behave yourself like a good boy. Okay?” Yanking his hand towards his body vindictively, he smirked as she yelped in pain as the metal cuff dug into her wrist.

“Oh, I can be a good boy when I want to. Not when you tell me to.” Ocelot smirked at her exasperation, _did she really think I wouldn’t take the opportunity to be an ass?_

Eva was quiet for a while, deep in thought about something that he really didn’t care to ask about. He still needed to talk to Zero about the new interrogation instructor…but now he wasn’t sure how he was going to ask with Eva constantly at his side…wait…

…if she was constantly with him…how was he going to shower and use the bathroom?

“Crap…” Pinching the bridge of his nose in irritation aimed at Snake, Ocelot couldn’t think of any way to get out of this situation…unless he could find the key for the handcuffs.

“I suppose you just realized the big issue here…” Eva said, her voice uncharacteristically small and almost timid.

“What? That we can’t shower or…” He trailed off, hoping she could catch onto what he meant without having to tell her outright.

“Yeah…and I really don’t want to not shower for three days…that’s disgusting.” Eva made a face showing her displeasure at the thought of not showering. “Plus…I’m really bad at holding my bladder for long periods of time.” The last part was said quietly, so he had to strain his ears to hear what she said.

“I can hold mine for a while…but three days is a long time…” he couldn’t believe he was standing next to Eva…talking about how long they could go without peeing…what was his life coming to?

“I don’t know about you…but I have work I need to get done.” He lightly tugged on the handcuffs to let her know that he wanted to move. She go the hint and followed him down the hallway that connected the two buildings.

This was going to be the longest three days of his life…

 

^^^

 

Eva stared at Ocelot’s back as they walked. She honestly didn’t feel like this was too bad of a situation…other than the fact that if they wanted to shower…they were going to have to do so together. And that when she needed to pee, he was going to be an arms-length away from her. She just prayed that her “monthly friend” didn’t decide to show up in the next three days…she didn’t think that she could survive going through that while handcuffed to Ocelot…

Walking into the living space of the other building, she smiled sheepishly at Para-medic who was sitting in the room, waiting for her. While the other woman enjoyed having female company, Eva actually enjoyed her male companions. Para-medic cocked an eyebrow in confusion as she noticed their situation.

“What’s going on?” she really could be nosy at times…but then again who wouldn’t be? Ocelot sent an irritated look in the other woman’s direction, but Eva spoke up before he could snap at her.

“Snake decided that it would be a good idea to handcuff us together so we could work out our _problems”_ Eva explained and couldn’t help narrowing her eyebrows when the other woman started to laugh.

“Snake…did that? Why did he think it would be a good idea? You too fight like cats and dogs.” Para-medic very obviously thought their predicament was humorous…but Eva had a hard time seeing it as funny when she was the one stuck to the anger-prone man.

“It’s Snake…what did you expect from him? A _good_ idea?” Eva was a little miffed at the brunet man…she could stand one day stuck to Ocelot…but the bastard had cuffed them before going on a **three** day mission…and she didn’t even want to remember the fact that he said it could go up to FIVE days total…

Para-medic chuckled, “You got a point…so how are you two going to…do normal things and work?” She had gotten up and was following them to wherever Ocelot was leading her.

Eva didn’t know, so she stayed quiet thinking that Ocelot would take the subtle hint to answer instead…but he remained silent.

Para-medic must have thought that they didn’t hear her so she started to repeat her question. “How are you two going…” Ocelot cut her off.

“If I knew I would have answered you the first time, but I don’t, so there is no fucking reason to ask again.” Eva was shocked that Ocelot would be so harsh…she thought that those two got along rather well…

Glancing at Para-medic, Eva saw that she wasn’t slighted by Ocelot’s harsh tone, she even seemed amused by it.

“Sorry. You don’t seem to be amused by all of this.” Eva figured that Para-medic was addressing Ocelot, who just huffed, turning his head back to look at her.

“I’m sure you wouldn’t be _amused_ if you were handcuffed to this hag.” Eva gaped at that. How **dare** he call her a hag, surely Para-medic would scold him about that, being her friend and all.

She chuckled. “Now Ocelot…I’m sure it’s not that bad.” _What!? Nothing about not calling her a hag, gosh…some friend she was._

“You’re not the one having to listen to her blathering on about nonsense all day.” Ocelot muttered, loud enough for the both of them to hear.

Feeling vindictive, Eva yanked her arm as hard as she could, hoping to cause him pain.

He stopped in his tracks, causing her to ram into his back. She looked up slightly at him, staring into his cold blue eyes.

“Now, Eva…how are we going to get along if you can’t even behave like a good girl?” he asked her condescendingly...in front of Para-medic, who just watched on in fascination. She couldn’t believe him…he had done the same to her earlier…but now that there was someone else around to witness her childish behavior, she felt ridiculed. Turning her eyes away from his, she let him win this time…not wanting Para-medic to be part of their little game.

“Decided to behave? Good girl.” The way he practically _purred_ the last part sent warmth down south, and she was horrified by it. She hoped that he couldn’t tell that that had turned her on more than she’d like to admit.

He spun on his heel, heading to Zero’s office, Eva trailing behind him and Para-medic behind her. Knocking once, Ocelot turned the handle to the office, walking in, his back straight and posture obviously military trained, different from the immature kid that he could be at times.

“Ocelot, welcome.” Zero drawled, acknowledging the soviet man, before turning to acknowledging the other two.

“What can I do for you?” Zero questioned, his eyes dropping to their wrists then going up to their faces to ask what was going on silently.

“Snake decided that it was a good idea to handcuff Eva and me. You don’t happen to have the key?” Ocelot questioned and Eva’s hope soared. Of course…why hadn’t she thought about asking Zero about the key?

“Unfortunately not. Will you still be able to complete your work?” Eva glanced at the man next to her, if he was disappointed that Zero didn’t have the key, he didn’t show it…in fact she was surprised to see how emotionless he looked.

“Of course I can. I will just have to complete it connected to Eva, but it will get done.” Eva knew that Ocelot was a good spy and a spy needed to be able to be a great actor especially when it came to their emotions. If a spy showed their enemy any emotion, they could use that emotion against them in the wrong situation. Ocelot, the man who she knew could be full of raw emotion, was able to wipe any sign of emotion…or a soul for that matter, off his face.

“That’s good to hear. I’ll let you get to work then.” Zero nodded his head in goodbye, returning his attention to his own work sitting on his desk.

Ocelot turned and walked out of the office without another word, and he didn’t talk until one of them did.

“Well, I better get to my work then. See you two around…and good luck. Don’t kill each other ‘kay?” Para-medic said her farewells, leaving them to head to her lab.

Eva looked at Ocelot when he snorted, sounding amused.

“Like I’d kill you now…” She cocked an eyebrow in surprise and confusion…he didn’t want to kill her? But he continued, looking at her, “I’d be stuck to a dead body for the next three days.” She hit his arm at that, a smile across her face at his teasing.

“That would be really nasty.” She laughed, continuing his previous thoughts. He nodded, a smirk playing across his face.

“Yeah, but then you could shower without me being around.” He shrugged jokingly, his eyes alight with amusement. She hit his shoulder again, her laughter echoing throughout the silent building.

“But it wouldn’t be any fun with you gone.” She smiled, her laughter dying away as he looked away from her, growing silent. Narrowing her eyebrows in confusion at his sudden change in character, she shoved his arm gently.

“Hey, what’s up?” he seemed to have cut himself off after her last comment, but turned back to her now, a smirk across his face.

“So the shower wouldn’t be any fun without me then?” Smacking his chest playfully, she laughed, glad to see him back to normal after the short change.

“That’s not what I meant.” She chuckled, shaking her head good-naturedly.

“Uh huh, sure. Whatever you say.” He shrugged, turning to continue back to the other building, his tone teasing.

“You are ridiculous, you know that?” She asked, staring at his back. He was handsome, she couldn’t deny that, and being stuck beside him all day wasn’t going to help her over active imagination.

“You would know.” He rebutted, looking back at her, smiling. His personality could use work…but then again…she didn’t think that he would be _Ocelot_ if he wasn’t an ass sometimes.

They walked back to their part of the building in silence after that, neither quite sure what to say to the other.

 

^^^

 

It was strange how something that had felt so uncomfortable not long ago, wasn’t noticeable the longer it was there.

The handcuffs had quickly become less of a hindrance and more a slight inconvenience. Ocelot was just glad that he was ambidextrous due to the fact that his right hand was the one handcuffed to Eva’s left.

They had returned to his room where he kept the papers that Zero needed him to go through. He sat on one side of the desk doing his work and Eva sat on the other side, doing whatever Zero had assigned to her, which wasn’t much at all. She had finished before him and sat there, staring at him for some unknown reason…and he wished she would just stop it.

Eventually she spoke, breaking the hour long silence between them.

“I’m hungry.” She shifted in her seat, her eyes never leaving him. He looked over to her, watching her for a few moments then returned his eyes to the paper in front of him.

“Good for you.” He had forgotten about the handcuffs after a while and was wondering why she was telling him she was hungry…she could get her own food like a big girl, couldn’t she?

“Let’s get something to eat.” He sighed, eyes returning back to Eva once again, this time she tugged on his wrist, reminding him that they had to go together. He set the paper down as his own stomach reminded him that it was in-fact time to eat.

“Fine.” They stood and headed for the kitchen, her trailing behind him as usual. Reaching their destination, he glanced back at her. “What do you want?”

“Umm…I don’t know. Anything that wouldn’t be difficult to make I suppose.” Usually he didn’t have to think about what to make, Snake always had a suggestion for what he wanted to eat so he usually cooked up whatever Snake wanted.

Glancing through the cupboards, he noticed that they were running low on supplies since they hadn’t had the time to go to restock recently. He was used to scrounging up whatever he could to make a meal for himself, but there was more food here than he had had in his childhood to search through so he didn’t have a hard time finding something to tide them over until later.

It was a simple meal of the remaining loaf of bread (still made him confused how these two Americans always left the heels of the loaf until the end, almost refusing to eat the heel…which Snake so maturely called the bread butt) with some fruit preserves and some of the left over deer from the night before.

They ate in silence and he let Eva drag him over to the sink so she could get a drink of water. He passed on the water, deciding that dehydration was better to go through than degrade himself to using the bathroom while chained to Eva.

Returning to his room and the desk where they had been working, no words were shared between them and Ocelot was frankly glad about that. He didn’t know if he could stand three whole days of Eva if she was constantly talking.

After a few more hours, he had gotten through almost all of his papers for the next couple days and he couldn’t help but notice how Eva had fallen asleep, her face pillowed on her arms which were crossed on his desk. He watched her for a while…the way her face relaxed into an almost blissful peace…like there was no care in the world. He had noticed that she had grown rather quiet, but it wasn’t until now that he noticed that the reason was because she was sleeping. The thought of yanking her out of the chair crossed his mind…but he found he couldn’t do it.

He didn’t know how long he watched her for…but eventually he couldn’t hold back the urge to reach out and touch her. Reaching out his left hand as to not disturb the sleeping woman, he brushed a lock of her hair that had fallen across her face behind her ear. Something inside him seemed to stir at the contented sigh she released, and it confused him greatly. Being slightly more bold and daring, he rubbed her cheek gently, rousing her from her sleep. Her blue eyes fluttered open and were drawn to his own. Letting out a small smile, she sat up yawning and then rubbed her eyes, trying to rub her drowsiness away.

“How long was I out?” she sounded so small and almost helpless, though he knew she wasn’t…not at all.

“Not long.” He retracted his hand away from her, setting it down on his lap. She nodded, stretching her free hand over her head to pop her back.

“Any chance for dinner?” She asked, looking at him again, any signs of the witch she could be at times were nowhere to be seen.

“We may need to go out to find something.” He looked away from her, realizing he had been staring at her the entire time.

“Ugh…no animals please.” He laughed out loud, shaking his head.

“No, who do you take me for? Snake?” they both laughed, he was probably the only one who truly liked to eat animals that he had caught…Ocelot was done eating wild animals after going through Snake’s backpack the one time.

“Alright then. Let’s go then.” Eva stood and he followed. This time, he let her lead the way out of the building and to where her motorcycle was. She stared at it for a moment before looking at him, “Well…I guess we’ll have to ride together.”

Getting on behind her, he thought that having to wrap his arm around her side so she could reach the handles wasn’t very comfortable. It felt weird…but he didn’t want to complain about it. Though it wasn’t the first time on a motorcycle, it was the first time on one with Eva. At first he was tense at how she drove, but he eventually relaxed and he found himself almost enjoying the ride.

They reached the town and Eva parked her beloved bike, setting her helmet on the seat.

“Alright then…where to?” She looked at him expectantly. He stared at her for a moment…he wasn’t actually sure where to go. Glancing around to the buildings around them, he didn’t see anything that popped out to him.

Shrugging he turned back to her, “Where ever you want I guess. I’ve never been to any of these places.”

She made him follow her down the street to a small corner building. He couldn’t get the feeling that someone was watching them out of his mind, but whenever he tried to look for who it was, Eva either tugged on him, causing him to watch where he was going less he tripped…or there was no one looking at them. She opened the door, a little bell announcing their arrival to anyone in the diner. Years of training left him trying to memorize all of the faces in the diner as he walked in…just in case something happened, he could recognize any possible suspects.

Eva talked to the young woman at the front pleasantly…as if they have met her before. The woman led them to a booth further in the back, further from prying eyes. As they passed the other people in their booths, he glared at them whenever they gave them an incredulous look due to the handcuffs.

They reached their booth and Eva slipped into the seat, tugging him down next to her. The woman from the front (black hair, green eyes…he tucked her appearance into his mental file cabinet just in case) smiled at them, saying her name was Mary and that she’d be their waitress…since she was the only waitress. He realized she was trying to make a joke…but he didn’t laugh, just stared at her, his eyebrows narrowed slightly. She shifted uncomfortably, saying she’d be right back before leaving them to deal with some other diners. A smack on his shoulder made him turn to the woman next to him.

“What!?” He practically snarled at her…he didn’t mean to…he was just not comfortable in situations like this where he wasn’t in control of everything around him, where everything was a wild card and could flip at any time.

“Be nice to her. She’s a sweet girl.” His thought from earlier returned.

“You know her?” he asked, his eyes flicking up to black haired woman named Mary.

“Yes, I come here sometimes and I’ll talk to her, so behave.” He glowered at her…she was talking to him like he was a child. She must have seen something in his look because she softened her tone and gaze. “She isn’t going to pull a gun on us, and if she were, I’m sure you’d be able to pull one faster.” He knew she was trying to flatter him to make him feel better…but he couldn’t help the warm feeling that her praise drew from him.

“I know…I just…” He stopped himself…he was NOT going to make another mistake in opening up to her…not after the last time.

“You just…” She repeated, rubbing his arm gently. It was strangely intimate the way she did it…like they were a couple or something. He shook his head, turning his head to look away from her, silently telling her the conversation was over.

Mary returned then, asking what they wanted to drink, her pen poised over a pad of paper, ready to write.

“I’ll take a coffee. Same as always.” Eva smiled at the younger girl, who smiled back, writing down the order before looking at Ocelot questioningly.

“Just…water is fine.” She nodded, leaving to get their drinks for them. Eva leaned against him, her eyes watching something through the window. He tried to see what she was looking at, but he couldn’t figure out what had drawn her attention. He looked down at the blonde head that was resting on his shoulder like it belonged there.

 

^^^

 

Eva smiled as she saw Ocelot’s reflection in the window look down at her in a curious fascination, obviously trying to figure out what she was watching. She wasn’t looking at anything outside though and he apparently overlooked the reflection of the two of them sitting together. There were times, like now, that she wished that she was in a relationship…she longed for the closeness and the intimacy that came with having a relationship. At first…Ocelot had been her last choice for a prospective lover…but the longer she spent playing Snake’s game, the more she grew to like the blond man.

Honestly, she was surprised that he hadn’t shoved her away from him, but she wasn’t about to complain. She felt content, sitting in the small diner’s booth pressed against Ocelot in a comfortable silence, just watching their reflection on the glass of the window.

Sitting up as Mary returned with her coffee and Ocelot’s water, she saw the smile that the younger girl sent her way and she smiled in return.

“Okay, here’s your coffee and your water sir. Do you have your order or do you still need a few minutes?” Ocelot glanced at her, telling her that she could order first.

After writing down their orders, Mary left them once again.

Ocelot watched Mary walk away, then continued to stare at the door she had disappeared behind. He was really paranoid about this woman…wasn’t he?

Being daring, Eva reached out slightly with the hand that was bounded to Ocelot’s and grabbed his gloved hand, holding it in hers. He looked down at their hands in confusion, then up to her face, silently asking in that ways of his _what was she doing?_ Grinning at him, but not saying a word, Eva squeezed his hand minutely and she beamed when he squeezed hers back in response. He looked away from her, but didn’t move his hand out of hers.

They sat like that until their food came out and even then Eva didn’t want to relinquish her hold on his hand…but knew she had to. There wasn’t much said while they ate, both of them lost in their own thoughts. When the check came, Eva went to pull out some money she had stashed away in her clothes, but Ocelot stopped her.

“I’ll pay.” She turned her head to look at him.

“Are you sure? I can pay for mine at least.” He shook his head in response, the look he sent her way telling her to not argue with him…and she wasn’t since they had gotten along so well so far…she didn’t want to ruin it now.

“Thank you Ocelot.” He nodded his head as he pulled out the cash necessary for the bill, and she continued, “But next time I’m paying.” Chuckling, he smiled at her, looking less like the hot headed major she had met in Tselinoyarsk that had tried to kill her and that she had tried to kill. For the first time, she wondered if this was all some ploy of his to make her fall for him so he could break her heart like she had done to Snake…

A slight tug on her wrist brought her back to the man in front of her and she followed him out of the booth and up to the front of the diner to pay. This time through, she was the one who received the strange looks from the other diner patrons and she just tried to ignore them, watching Ocelot’s back instead. At the front, she smiled at Mary, who gave her a questioning look, to which she shook her head mouthing ‘another time’.

“Have a nice day!” Mary waved at them as they exited the diner.

They wandered down the street a few blocks before Eva broke the silence again.

“So where to next?” Eva didn’t really want to go back to that drab building…but she knew that she would have to eventually, but the longer she could prolong the inevitable the better.

“We probably should pick up a few groceries for the next few days.” Ocelot paused in his walking to look at her, then around the town to see if there was a nearby grocery store. She knew where one was since she had spent more time than the others around the town. Leading the way to the nearest grocery market, she grinned at him as she paused in front of the store.

“Here we are.” Eva spread her free arm out in a grand gesture, motioning to the store behind her. He rolled his eyes at her and walked inside, another bell announcing their entrance. Grabbing a basket, Eva glanced around the store trying to think what they should get.

They made their way around the store picking up items that they needed for the next few days; Bread, a few packages of meat from the butchers counter, eggs, a few snack items and other odds and ends. Making their way up to the front counter, they stood behind an older couple who were getting checked out. Eva glanced at the items that they kept around the front counter for the kids to plead with their parents for and scoffed.

Ocelot turned his attention to her, his gaze questioning.

“Can you believe how expensive a candy bar is now?” She hadn’t paid any attention to the prices of things such as candy the past few years and was astonished seeing it now.

“Ten cents?” Ocelot snorted in what sounded like amusement at her reaction to the price of a chocolate bar.

“Yeah! I remember when I could get candy for a penny…but now they want a dime for a candy bar. What is the world coming to?” The elicited a laugh from her male companion, to which she couldn’t help but smile.

“Damn those supermarkets and their high candy bar prices…going to make the economy fail if they keep raising the price of chocolate candy.” He teased, and she rolled her eyes good-naturedly. He turned serious shortly afterwards, “I guess that’s the reason why Zero created the Patriots…so we could save the world from problems like this.”

“Zero created the Patriots so he could save people from rising chocolate prices?” Eva teased, knowing that wasn’t the reason why Zero had created the Patriots. Ocelot snorted.

“Yep.” Eva laughed, looking back at the rack with the various candies, her eye kept getting drawn to a chocolate bar that she would get as a young girl back when she lived her parents in Meridian. At times, she would forget how observant the man beside her could be, but was reminded when reclaimed her attention.

“Either that chocolate bar has done something to make you paranoid about it…or you really want it.” She turned her eyes to Ocelot, blinking in surprise.

“No…not really…I was just thinking about when I’d get them when I was a child. It’s been years since I’ve eaten one…” She watched as Ocelot picked up the candy she had been eyeing for the past few moments and looked at him in confusion. He smiled and waved the chocolate slightly.

“Since you’ve been a good girl today, I suppose you deserve a treat.” The way he said that made her blush, she turned her head away from him, trying to get her face under her command. The damn bastard was trying to get her flustered and he _knew_ that he was succeeding. Taking a deep breath to retake her control she looked back at him.

“You don’t have to…” He cut her off, shaking his head and turning his gaze to the elderly couple as they finished paying for their groceries and set their own basket on the counter, throwing the young cashier a charming smile before looking back to Eva.

“Too late now.” His charming smile morphing into his teasing smirk, Eva couldn’t help but smile back at this man.

“Well…thank you then…but I’ll share, I really don’t need to be eating the whole thing myself.” Ocelot nodded at that, the gears in his head turning for a moment before quipping back, “Yeah, you’re probably right. Wouldn’t want those extra calories going to your thighs would we?” The cashier snorted, apparently eavesdropping on their conversation. Ocelot shot the younger man a look, silently letting him know that he better stay out of their business, to which the black haired man dropped his gaze to finishing up his job.

Eva didn’t say anything to the other man, letting Ocelot deal with any nosey people…something he was really good at. They silently agreed to not say anything else until they were out of eavesdropping distance. Ocelot paid for the groceries and the two of them started heading back to the motorcycle, knowing that they need to head back to Patriots HQ

Getting on the motorcycle, Eva looked forward to the ride to the place she called home for the moment. She loved her motorbike, the adrenaline of the ride and the wind in her hair. But most of all, she loved the freedom she had while riding. It also didn’t hurt that Ocelot had to basically wrap his arm around her…she realized that she actually enjoyed his closeness…he was truly like a wildcat, dangerous when angered and adorable and fun when he was in a good mood.

Part of her wished that Snake’s stupid plans would work out in the end…while another part of her knew that they, Ocelot and herself, would never work as a couple…but then again…she had been wrong in the past, so perhaps she was wrong now.

Stopping her motorcycle as she realized they were already back, she blinked in surprise. She hadn’t even noticed they had gotten home so quickly, but takes off her helmet, placing it back on her bike.

 

^^^

 

Ocelot lets Eva lead them into the building and into the kitchen where they work together to put their few groceries away.

Turning his head as he hears a snort from Eva, he cocks an eyebrow to question her.

“Making up for the sausage from the other day?” She was holding up a package of breakfast sausage that he had picked up from the butcher.

“No. I just don’t want to cook up anymore of Snake’s butchered squirrels as sausage.” He put the bread in the bread box before adding on, “Besides, if I were to _make up_ to him, I’d have to go to the pharmacy and pick up some laxatives to get him back for these.” He lifted his and her wrists that were still connected with the handcuffs. Eva laughed, seriously debating about doing what he said…

Snake would **not** get away with this.

He had two angry spies waiting for him when he returned from his mission in two days…

And then he’d have wished that he hadn’t locked them up together.

No amount of sweet talking could get him out of this.

There was no escape.

 


	6. Confession

Shortly after finishing putting away the groceries, a problem arose.

A major problem.

Eva and Ocelot sat on the small couch in the living space, Ocelot reading some book…a western she figured and Eva watching some lame movie on the small television set.

Or at least…that was what it looked like.

Eva couldn’t focus on the movie, and no amount of bouncing her legs could allow her to forget about her problem.

Her bladder was going to burst if she didn’t go to the bathroom soon…but she also didn’t want to pee with Ocelot three feet away from her.

“Will you stop that?” Turning to meet his icy eyes, she smiled weakly.

“Sorry.” She stopped bouncing her legs, but then her bladder protested, letting her know that she **really** needed to go…NOW. She let out a whimper, then slapped her hand over her mouth in embarrassment.

“What is your problem?” Ocelot didn’t seem to be in the mood to deal with her annoyances, and she smiled sheepishly at him in apology.

“Nothing. Sorry.” She tried to focus on anything other than the pressure in her bladder. Jumping as a hand rubbed her cheek gently, she clamped her knees together to keep herself from really embarrassing herself. Looking at Ocelot again, she noticed that he had put his book down and was paying his full attention on her.

“Something is obviously wrong…you never apologize to me.” She chuckled, brushing away a lock of her hair out of her eyes, _Damn…he really is perceptive._

“I…” She squirmed uncomfortably, trying to relieve some of the pressure in her middle.

“You?” He cocked an eyebrow and she squirmed again. She sighed…there was NO way she was going to be able to hold it in for two more days…so why torture herself any longer?

“I need to pee.” There. She said it. It was out in the open…and she had to say…it felt pretty good. But not nearly as good as it would feel to actually be done with the whole ordeal. He chuckled, shaking his head.

“So this whole time you’ve needed to go, but decided to suffer through it?” She huffed, turning her head to look away from him, attempting to keep some of her pride…but that was getting harder by the second.

He stood, pulling her up and led her to the bathroom. Walking in and shutting the door, Eva could feel her face heating up slightly…there was no backing up now.

She stared at the toilet for a good thirty seconds before glancing at Ocelot who rolled his eyes and turned his back on her, giving her as much privacy as he possibly could. Taking a deep breath, she lowered her pants and sat down. Humming loudly to dampen any sound, she heard the jingling of the handcuff chains as Ocelot trembled against them.

After she was done, she felt wonderful. Buttoning up her pants and flushing she sighed in relief. She rested her hand on his shoulder to make sure he was alright, but saw a smile on his face.

“What?” She glared at him…did he think this was funny?

“You were horribly off tune.” She widened her eyes and gaped at him, before shoving his shoulder.

“Oh, like you could do better asshole.” Who did he think he was? Mozart? Rolling her eyes at him, she motioned her head towards the porcelain throne, “You should probably just go now…while we are still in here.”

He smirked at her, “What? I don’t get to make a big deal about it like you did?” Smacking his shoulder again, she couldn’t help the fondness that bubbled in her chest at his teasing.

“No. Now just go.” She turned her back, this time giving him the privacy…though she would never tell him that she had thought of peeking…

They finished and washed their hands before both glancing at the shower…both deciding that **that** could wait. They left the bathroom, turning off the light as they went.

It was nighttime and they were both about ready to turn in for the night…

…but another problem arose.

“Where are we going to sleep?” Eva looked at Ocelot…she hadn’t even thought about their sleeping arrangement. Ocelot looked at her, then shrugged his shoulders, looking to the side, the wheels in his head turning as he tried to figure something out.

“I guess we’ll have to sleep in one of our beds.” He looked back to her and she blinked twice.

“Oh…yeah I guess so.” Well…this was going to be a problem…at least for her.

Over the past couple weeks she had genuinely developed feeling for the younger man. She didn’t expect any feelings returned…she knew that Snake held Ocelot’s heart and she was doubtful that the blond was willing to take any of his heart away from Snake and give it to her…but that hadn’t stopped these feeling from developing.

And now she was going to have to sleep next to him for three days…five days max…She was usually pretty good at controlling her emotions when on a mission…but she was shit at concealing them in normal situations.

Biting her bottom lip, she looked up at him, a small smile on her face.

“Alright then…let’s go to my room then.” Turning to walk in the direction, she was stopped as the handcuffs dug into her arm. Looking back, she saw that Ocelot hadn’t moved.

“Why do we have to go to your room? My room is closer.” He just about pouted and she sighed heavily.

“Yeah…but I’m positive my sheets are clean. Yours may not be.” She smiled wickedly, the insinuation heavily laced in her words. He caught on quickly, narrowing his eyebrows at her.

“I don’t…” he started, but she cut him off moments after his words left his mouth.

“Of course you do. You _are_ a male after all.” The horrified look on his face caused her to laugh, he spluttered out a few incoherent words before running a hand down his face to calm himself and continuing.

“I cannot believe your vulgarity. I do NOT masturbate in my bed.” Enunciating every word to try to prove his point, he was almost fuming visibly. She couldn’t help herself…

“Oh, so you do it in the shower then.” He groaned, tossing his free hand into the air, knowing that he wouldn’t be getting anywhere with her.

She had behaved herself all day…but there was a deep enjoyment that was received from tormenting the short tempered man…it always reminded her on how young he actually was. There were times that she forgot about the eight year difference in their age since he could be more mature than most people were at his age. In most movies, the twenty seven year olds were off partying and drinking…carousing with their friends and getting into trouble…but Ocelot (and herself) never did any of that…he had been in the military since he was nineteen…at least as far as she knew…he could have been in longer, but she wasn’t aware is he was or not.

Ocelot pulled her out of her thoughts as he finally responded to her previous comment. “No. Besides…why are you so interested in whether I do or not?” She smirked…she wasn’t done with him yet.

“Is that why you don’t want to shower with me?” He slapped his forehead with his hand, covering his eyes and controlling his breathing in order to not snap at her. Lowering his hand he glared daggers at her, his face was an adorable shade of pink.

“No! How many times do I have to…” Again, she cut him off, not letting him get off the hook with this conversation. She had found something that seemed to bother him deeply, and she refused to let this opportunity pass by.

“Who do you imagine as you masturbate hmm?” She had to bite her lip to keep herself from bursting into laughter at his astonished expression and bright red cheeks. But she wasn’t done yet. “Snake perhaps? Do you imagine the way his calloused hands would first run down your side to your hips before wrapping around your…” He cut her off this time with a yank on the handcuffs and a sharp yell.

“NO! Will you just stop? If you wanted to sleep in your own damn room that much you could have just fucking said so.” Perhaps she hit a little too close to home with that last comment and she decided that she didn’t want to kill Ocelot due to the amount of embarrassment he radiated. She giggled, nodding once.

“I could have…but this was much more fun.” She winked at him, turning once again towards her room and this time he followed, albeit reluctantly.

 

^^^

 

He couldn’t believe this damn woman…did she get enjoyment from torturing him so much? He honestly believed she did.

Shutting the door behind him as he entered, he frowned at the smell in her room.

_Perfume…_

That was the main reason he didn’t want to sleep in Eva’s room. He hated the smell of perfume, it bothered his sensitive nose.

They sat down on the edge of her bed. Slipping his cowboy boots off his feet, he set them aside. He debated on what to actually take off and what needed to stay on. Usually, he slept in a tank top and his boxers…but he didn’t think he wanted to do that tonight while lying next to Eva. Undoing his belt, he placed it next to his boots and decided that just about enough…not the most comfortable, but it’d work for now. He turned to look at Eva to see if she was ready and gasped in shock.

“You’re in your underwear!” She turned her bright blue eyes to look at him and she smiled.

“Yeah, you have a problem with that?” She fluttered her eyelashes at him, a coy smile on her face.

“I…no…” he grumbled, turning his head away from her, not wanting to look at her for much longer lest she catches him staring.

“Surely you aren’t planning on sleeping with all of your clothes on?” She moved her free hand down the center of his chest, starting at his collarbone and ending at the top of his pants, her fingers lingering on his lower belly.

“I…figured I’d keep them on.” He was really uncomfortable in situations like this. He never knew what to do or how to react to anything. Ocelot let out a breath that he didn’t realize he had been holding as she pulled her hand away. He wished that she would just drop this whole sex conversation and insinuations.

As a teenager, he had been pushed by the philosophers to pursue work in the NSA and he never had time to even think about girls…or men…so while his fellow teenagers were off popping cherries, he was engrossed in getting a job within the NSA and getting away from the philosophers.

As an adult, he was busy playing around with his various _masters_ and getting into deep espionage shit, working multiple covers for different bosses…

…so…as much as he hated to sit down and realize the truth about himself…here he was, twenty seven years old and still very much a virgin.

“That wouldn’t be very comfortable.” She moved her hand to the top button on his shirt, breaking him out of his inner thoughts.

“I’ll be fine.” He said almost breathily, squirming away from her touch, but she didn’t back down.

“Nope.” She shook her head, grabbing the top button and undoing it, her hands moving downwards to release the other buttons…and he just stood there, unsure of what to do.

She undid the buttons rather quickly and he couldn’t help but think that she must have done this kind of things with a lot of men…so of course she’d be skilled in undressing them.

 

^^^

 

After finishing undoing all the buttons on Ocelot’s shirt, Eva slid her hands up his abs towards his pecs before resting them on his shoulders. She chuckled slightly as she noticed the difference in their skin tones…he was much paler than her, but that was expected as he grew up in the Soviet-Always-Cold-Union. He seemed to have frozen up and for the first time she wondered if he was still a virgin. Quickly dismissing the thought as ridiculous, she figured that he must have had plenty of girls after him as he was a very handsome man and could easily charm his way into almost anyone’s pants if he tried.

Finally moving her hands again, she slid them up and over his shoulders, his shirt falling to the floor. Her eyes shamelessly wandered his upper body before meeting his own. As it usually did, tension filled the air around them, though this was a different tension than usual.

She wondered if he could resist her a second time…and then doubted that he could.

Dropping her hand to his pants, she grabbed the button that kept his pants together, ready to undo it and get rid of them. A hand on hers stopped her and she looked up at him, questioning him with her look.

He shook his head and pulled her hand away and she was surprised when she noticed the slight quiver in his hand as he did so.

“No.” His voiced dissent gave her no room to argue. She wasn’t going to force him into doing something he was uncomfortable with…at least right now. Later though, she planned on pushing his comfort boundaries a bit, see what she could get out of him. Eva dropped her hand away from his pants and nodded and she saw him relax slightly. _Man…this must be making him really uncomfortable…_

Crawling up onto the bed, she pulled him down next to her. Lying on her side facing towards him, she frowned when he laid down with his back facing her. Huffing and scooting up against him, she pressed against his back, nuzzling her face into the back of his neck before sighing in contentment.

“Do you need to be so close?” His voice was hard, the first time today that he had sounded like his old angry self.

“It’s kind of hard to sleep far apart with the handcuffs.” Truthfully, she could sleep a little further away…but she wanted to sleep closer to him.

He grunted, accepting her answer and not pushing the subject any more.

Resting her head against his back, she listened to both his breathing and his heartbeat. It was soothing to say the least and she drifted off as she listened to the rhythmic thumping of his heart.

 

^^^

 

Sleep didn’t come as easily for Ocelot.

He wasn’t used to sleeping with someone in his bed…or he guessed…sleeping with someone in their bed as he had lost that battle.

Eva was warm to say the least…and softer than he had expected for someone with such a sharp tongue and a rough personality.

Thinking back to earlier, he realized how stupid he must be. Eva had basically offered to have sex and he declined, hoping that it would be Snake…John…that would take his virginity…

The other man was clearly into women…most men are. Ocelot is the outlier…though, he supposed he could swing either ways if he was being honest with himself.

He listened to Eva’s breathing and noted that she must have fallen asleep.

Considering how stubborn she had been earlier…he was surprised that she conceded so easily when he had told her no. He had expected another battle…but she didn’t even put up a fight and there was something about that that made feel…well…something for the woman…he just didn’t know what the feeling could be called right now.

It was about thirty minutes after Eva had fallen asleep that Ocelot had finally slipped into unconsciousness.

 

He woke before Eva like he always did. Unfortunately he couldn’t get up right away due to the stupid handcuffs. While his mind was on the subject of the handcuffs, he realized that he needed to figure out how to get back at Snake for doing this to them.

As his mind started to fully awaken, he noticed that in the course of the night, they had shifted positions…scratch that, Eva had shifted positions. Somehow she had flipped over him so she was pressed into his chest instead of his back. He snorted, amused and frightened that she had managed to do that. Amused because she had obviously wanted to sleep with his back NOT facing her and she had somehow done so and frightened because he hadn’t awoken as she did so…meaning that she could have easily grabbed a gun nearby and killed him without him even realizing it.

Looking down at the woman curled against his chest, her leg thrown across his hip, he couldn’t and didn’t want to stop the fondness that swelled up in his chest unexpectedly. She really was something else. No woman had ever stood up to him as she did on a daily basis…nor had any of them rendered him speechless as she had a bad habit of doing. He barely ever saw anyone as an equal to himself…and he could only think of two, John and Eva.

She let out a small sigh before nuzzling further into his chest, a smile playing on her face. Still asleep and yet she was still making sound.

Running his hand through her hair, he wondered if he should let his own hair grow out a bit…he wasn’t too fond of short hair…but it was better to give the enemy less to grab onto should they catch you.

Eva sighed at his touch…yet she remained asleep. He could have woken her up…but he found that he couldn’t bring himself to.

He settled with running his fingers through her soft blonde hair.

 

^^^

 

The feeling of Ocelot running his fingers through her hair woke Eva up, but she kept her eyes closed. Apparently she forgot who she was dealing with since he noticed she was awake anyways.

“Go ahead and keep faking if you want…” she snorted at that, opening her eyes and looking at the man laying across from her.

“That felt nice.” He blinked before smiling at her.

“You’re lazy.” Well…there went any chance of a nice morning…

Sitting up and glaring at him, she huffed, “I’m not lazy.”

“Yes you are. I’ve been awake for at least four hours now.” She blinked in surprise… _what time was it?_

Looking at the clock by her bed, she saw it was only nine in the morning…meaning he had been awake since five at least.

“Well, sorry that I have a normal sleep schedule. Unlike you, I prefer to get my beauty rest.” Huffing and throwing some of her long locks of blonde hair over her shoulder she returned her gaze to the man next her.

He smirked and she prepared herself for what she knew what was coming.

“And unlike me, you actually need the beauty rest.” Ocelot tugged on the handcuffs, motioning that he wanted to get out of bed. They stood, getting out of the bed and heading for the first stop of the morning.

 

Using the bathroom was much easier the second time, but they decided to pass on the shower for another day…that wasn’t something they felt ready to tackle quite yet.

Breakfast passed uneventfully and they headed over to the building where Zero and the other two were…or should have been.

Para-medic wasn’t in her usual spot when they walked in, but neither of them paid it much attention. It wasn’t until they made it to Zero’s office that they realized they were alone.

Eva peeled the piece of paper that was taped to Zero’s office door off and read it aloud to Ocelot.

_Ocelot and Eva,_

_Something has come up back home in England. I had to leave and I brought Para-medic with me. Take the next few days off and don’t get into trouble if you can help it._

_~0_

Looking over to Ocelot, she cocked her head to the side as she watched the gears turn in his head, trying to figure out what was really going on with Zero.

“Why would he need Para-Medic?” At his question, she thought about it for a moment, unable to come up with any possible reason why he would.

“I have no clue.” She shook her head, before trying to open the door, only to find it locked. Ocelot chuckled at her attempt to sneak into their commander’s office to snoop.

“You really think he would be stupid enough to leave the door unlocked with us around?” She laughed, shaking her head.

“No…but it was worth a shot.” Shooting him a smile, he smiled back then turned his attention to the footsteps that alerted them to another person.

“Hey you two, what’s up?” Sigint wandered over to where they stood, a big grin on his face.

“Do you know where Zero went?” Ocelot questioned the other man, ignoring Sigint’s own question.

“Zero’s not here?” Sigint sounded honestly confused, and she noticed the pause before Ocelot’s own response. She knew that he was trying to judge the amount of truthfulness behind the other man’s words.

“No. He isn’t. He said he had something come up in England and he brought Para-Medic with him for some reason. I figured since you are around him more than us…” he trailed off, his eyes never leaving the other man. Eva was surprised when she actually paid attention to Ocelot’s body language… _he doesn’t trust Sigint._ Ocelot was tense and never let Sigint out of his sight, even as he turned his body towards where she was standing.

“Nah man, I wish I knew, but he never said a word to me about where they were going. I’m sure it’s nothing much.” Sigint was completely unaware of the distrust that radiated off of Ocelot…but then again Eva was surprised that she could pick up on the small signs that Ocelot let slip through his guard. It was the first time that she realized that Ocelot put some of his hard-earned trust within her…and the thought made her feel giddy.

“I’m sure it isn’t. Thank you Sigint.” Nodding at the other man, Ocelot turned and headed back in the direction of their half of the building.

Personally, she couldn’t be happier about the situation they found themselves in…they had the next couple days off together and didn’t have to work. That meant that she could spend the next two days seeing how far she could push Ocelot into going with her.

 

^^^

Two days.

He had two days to figure out how to get back at Snake.

As he led Eva through the hall into the living space in their part of the building, he was attempting to come up with the most dastardly plan that wouldn’t harm Snake permanently.

“Hey, what are you thinking about?” Eva’s voice tore him from his thoughts and he turned his gaze to her.

“About how we are going to get back at Snake.” Eva laughed and he couldn’t help but smile.

“No laxatives?” This caused both of them to go into a fit of laughter. When they sobered, he shook his head.

“No, unfortunately not. Tempting though.” They fell into a silence for a few moments, each thinking about the best way to punish the brunet man.

Sitting down on the couch, they glanced around the room, nothing really coming to mind about what the best punishment would be.

“What if…” Eva started, then trailed off, shaking her head. He didn’t push her further, figuring she didn’t like the idea.

“What if when he returns, we sneak into his room and hide all his clothes?” Ocelot laughed, picturing exactly what would happen if they did that.

“He would walk around naked then. It wouldn’t bother him.” Eva giggled, then nodded.

“You’re right…he probably would.” Falling back into another silence…they realized how hard it was going to be to find a punishment that would actually faze the dense man.

After a good hour of shooting ideas back and forth between them, Eva huffed, slipping down the couch in a childish manner.

“We are **never** going to find something that will bother him.” Eva turned her blue eyes towards her, and for the first time a defeated look stared at him from the blonde woman. He wanted to reach out and let her know that it was alright, but then a thought hit him suddenly.

“That’s it!” he beamed at her and he knew exactly what they needed to do.

“What? What’s it?” She sat up and he saw the defeated look melt away into anxiousness.

Grinning like the wildcat he was named after, he leaned forward letting her onto the fool-proof punishment that was sure to drive Snake up the walls.

 “That’s sure to work. He won’t be expecting it at all.” Her grin matched his and she nodded approvingly.

“Of course, after all, the mind plays the worst of tricks.” He laughed, Eva joining in as she wrapped her arms around his neck in joy. His laugh hitched when she wrapped herself around him, but she didn’t notice as their laughs died off slowly.

“He is going to regret this.” She looked at him under hooded lids and he suddenly felt uncomfortable. Grabbing her arms and peeling her off of him, he stood, dragging her up with him.

“You really get uncomfortable with physical attention…don’t you?” He looked at her in shock…unsure on how to respond.

“It’s not that…it’s just…” he snapped his mouth shut, turning his head away from her in order to keep him from opening up to her again.

“Don’t do this right now Ocelot. Please…talk to me.” She turned his head back to face hers using her free hand.

 

^^^

 

Eva had been thinking that he had trusted her…at least a little…but he always was closing her out like this. It was like he would start to open up but then force himself to stonewall her and she couldn’t understand why he was doing it.

Staring into his eyes, she could tell he wasn’t going to open up to her tonight. Dropping her hand, she took a step back, sighing overdramatically to let him know that she was disappointed and a little hurt.

She didn’t expect him to feel guilty…after all it was Ocelot.

He didn’t say anything, just stared at her for a few moments before sitting back down on the couch with a sigh. She sat next to him, but kept her distance from him, letting him know she was upset with him.

“If you think that your drama is going to make me want to open myself to you…then you are sorely mistaken.” Her eyes snapped to his in surprise. He practically had growled that at her and she was stunned with his sudden hostility.

“Well, excuse me for worrying about you.” She was appalled that he would take her comment so harshly.

“Like hell you do.” She blinked twice before opening her mouth to refute his statement, but he cut her off before she could, “You don’t care for me and you know that as well as I do. The only reason why you are acting so kindly towards me is because you want to win this stupid game that Snake started.” Her eyes started to burn and she stood, slapping him across the face with her free hand. His face snapped to the side, his rant stalled as he paused in shock at her abuse.

He raised his hand to his face to place it on the mark that was already blooming across his face where she had slapped him and she realized her mistake.

“Oh my god…Ocelot I’m sorry…” She reached her hand out towards him to try to better her mistake, but he stood, stepping away from her.

“Don’t touch me.” His eyes were narrowed as he glared at her outreached hand, which she dropped down to her side.

“Look, I said I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hit you…it’s just…” Trying to explain herself, she wanted to scream when he cut her off again.

“It’s just nothing. You are no different than anyone else. You mean nothing to me and I am simply just a toy in your game. Unfortunately for you, I do not take lightly to being played with. Snake let you get away with playing with him…but you won’t be so lucky a second time around.” He turned and attempted to walk away, having forgotten about the handcuffs.

At the reminder that they were there, he growled at the metal bindings, grabbing them with his other hand and began pulling on them, trying to break them with his strength. They didn’t give and Eva knew that if he kept trying he was sure to hurt himself.

“Don’t do that.” She placed her hand over his, stilling his attempt. “You’re just going to hurt yourself.” He dropped his hand and his head in defeat. It was uncharacteristic for Ocelot and it just broke her heart to see him so upset.

“I really am sorry. But you wouldn’t shut up.” His eyes snapped up to hers and she was glad to see the fire in his eyes again. “You kept saying that I only was playing with you…but…” Trailing off, she nearly smirked at the impatient look he shot her way.

“But?” He obviously wanted to know what she was going to say, but she was feeling like she needed to tease him a bit…since he had done the same to her not too long ago…and started up this whole mess.

She didn’t say a word, instead decided that her fingernails were more interesting than answering him. It obviously did its job as her glared at her, tugging slightly on the handcuffs and the image of a young boy tugging on his mother’s skirt to gain her attention popped to mind.

“What?” Smiling at him innocently, she withheld her laughter as he just about pouted at her.

“You know what.” He stepped towards her in what she figured was meant to be a threatening gesture, but she wasn’t threatened much by him anymore so it didn’t affect her.

“No…I don’t think I do. Besides, you did it to me, so if you want to hear what I was going to say, you have to tell me what you were going to say.” He huffed and she knew she had him cornered.

“Whatever then.” He muttered, plopping back down onto the couch and she sat next to him.

Eva was getting tired of taking one step forward with Ocelot and then taking two backwards later that same day. She just wanted to stop these actual fights with him…she liked the playful fights though.

It was obvious after a while that he wasn’t going to say anymore.

“I don’t hate you.” She ventured after a long silence. He didn’t say anything, so she took that as permission to continue. “I actually really like you.” Again…he says nothing and she squirms in her seat, turning to face him to watch his face. “I…think I may have lost my own game.” He looked at her out of the corner of his eye, though he didn’t turn his face towards her. She scooted towards him until her leg was against his.

“I think I love you.” Her heart was beating wildly and she hoped he couldn’t hear it. He still didn’t turn his head to look at her and she wondered what was going through his mind at that moment. His voice nearly made her jump as he finally responded.

“I know I don’t.”

She knew since the beginning that Ocelot loved Snake and that she wasn’t even an option in his mind…

But damn did those words hurt.

Moving away from him, she turned her head away from him, trying to conceal the tear that rolled down her cheek.

She had been with a few men throughout her life…but she had only ever loved two of them.

Snake…

…and now Ocelot.

But neither of them seemed to reciprocate her feeling...

…though…Snake had for a while, until she betrayed him that is.

 

^^^

 

Ocelot couldn’t believe what he had just heard from Eva.

_She loved him?_

_How in the world had that happened…_

_Was she playing him?_

He shook his head and shot back the only response he could think of.

“I know I don’t.”

Whether he said that about her or himself…he wasn’t sure.

Glancing at Eva, he flinched when he noticed she was crying.

_Either she is a great actress and made herself cry or…_

Sighing, he reached out to her and placed his hand on her shoulder, which she shrugged off.

Scooting closer to her, he wrapped his arms around her waist and laid his head on her shoulder.

“I’m sorry…I don’t know why I said that.” Well…that was one of his smaller lies, but he was positive that she wouldn’t catch it. He wasn’t sure what he truly felt for Eva.

It was something more than what he felt for the other three patriots, Zero, Sigint and Para-Medic, but it wasn’t quite the same he felt for Snake…John.

She sniffled, then giggled, leaning into his embrace.

“Okay, where is the Ocelot I know?” He huffed, lifting his head to look at her questioningly.

“The Ocelot I know would have never apologized.” He laughed and felt a shot of warmth as she laughed along with him.

Squirming out of his grasp, she turned to face him.

“I know that you love Snake…but I just wanted you to know that I loved you as well.” He didn’t know what to say to that…he had always figured he had done a good job in hiding his attraction to the American man…but then again, Eva was more perceptive than most people.

“I don’t expect you to love me back. I would be stupid to expect something like that…but I’m shit at hiding my emotions.” He couldn’t meet her eyes…he felt the eight year age gap between them more than ever in that moment.

She could admit to her feelings…knowing that she would most likely be rejected…and he couldn’t even bring himself to admit his feelings to anyone…least of all the man he loved.

He wished more than ever that he could be alone right then…but he still had one more day stuck to Eva…

…and that was if Snake made it back tomorrow…

…there was still the possibility of two days after tomorrow that they would need to go through.

 

 


	7. Blue Fire Burns the Hottest

Snake rubbed his sore shoulder as he walked to the front door as quietly as possible.

His mission had gone by without injury…other than a sprained shoulder…but it had taken him longer than he had expected.

He had told Eva and Ocelot that it would take him three days…five max.

Here he was nine days later…

…he just hoped that they weren’t too mad at him…

…though he would be lying if he said he wasn’t expecting some sort of punishment for what he had done…and perhaps he deserved it.

Opening the door, cringing at the way it creaked as it swung open, he peeked his head in looking for any signs of the blondes.

Sighing in relief as he walked in, he was happy to see that neither of them were in sight…but his stomach grumbled as a pleasant smell wafted over to him.

_They’re in the kitchen…_

Snake decided to drop his pack in his room before taking on the challenge that was coming up…

…and then he’d really deserve his punishment.

After dropping his backpack and survival belt on his bed, Snake made his way over to the kitchen…pacing a few times back and forth before inhaling to steel himself and walking in, a smile that didn’t really reach his eyes plastered on his face.

“Morning.” He managed to retain his smile as both sets of blue eyes snapped over to him in surprise.

“Snake! You’re back!” Eva seemed happy to see him…though Ocelot hadn’t said anything and that worried Snake more than he would like to admit. The two of them moved in synch over to him where Ocelot stared him down, passing his gaze over his entire body. Snake tensed as Ocelot threw his arms around his neck and pulled him into a hug. When he realized that Ocelot wasn’t going to pull a knife on him, he wrapped his arms around the other man, pleased that they were happy to see him and not trying to strangle him.

Ocelot backed away, looking him in the eye, his trademark glare on his face for the first time since Snake walked into the kitchen and Snake felt weird admitting that he missed that look.

“Three days huh? Five max? Tell us why it’s been nine and you are just returning then?” Ocelot and Eva stood side by side, mirror images of one another and Snake felt it would be an inappropriate time to laugh.

“Uhh…well…things didn’t go as planned…and Zero kinda disappeared part way through.” Snake rubbed the back of his neck, trying to look like an innocent child so that Eva and Ocelot wouldn’t hurt him…but he knew he needed to butter them up for what he still needed to tell them.

“Seems so.” Ocelot frowned, then sighed, losing his angry face. “I’m just glad that you are alright. You really scared Eva when you didn’t show up after five days.” Snake chuckled as Eva jabbed her elbow into Ocelot’s ribs, huffing at him. “Alright, alright…fine…You scared both of us.”

Snake smiled, though he had to admit it felt strange knowing that these two cared so much for his well-being.

“I’m sorry. I’m here now though.” The smile on Snake’s face was a genuine one, opposed to the fake smile he had to put on his face before entering the kitchen.

“Yeah you are. Now undo these damn handcuffs will ya Snake?” Eva held her wrist out, bringing Ocelot’s wrist with hers.

The smile fell from Snake’s face and his eye shifted around the room, avoiding his main problem.

“Snake…” Ocelot growled at him and Snake finally looked at him, a sheepish grin on his face. He hoped that they wouldn’t be that mad at him for what he was about to tell them.

“I would undo them…” Snake started, but was cut off by the blond man, whose face twitched in annoyance.

“Would? No, I think you mean you are. Right now.” Ocelot glared at him and Snake rubbed the back of his neck, trying to look as innocent as he could, praying that Ocelot didn’t have his revolvers on him right now.

“Uhh…well…you see…” The looks on both of their faces betrayed the cumulating anger at his started explanation.

“I don’t like the sound of this.” Eva narrowed her eyes at him and as Snake glanced between the two sets of blue eyes glaring at him, he was reminded of being told that blue fire burns the hottest.

“What the hell are you getting at Snake? Just get the fucking key and unlock these goddamn things.” Snake took a step away from Ocelot so that when he did tell them the news, he wouldn’t be in reaching distance of the Russian.

“I lost it.”

The silence that followed his admittance was chilling and Snake watched Ocelot closer than Eva since he felt him to be a greater threat than the blonde woman.

“You…lost it.” The emotionless tone in Ocelot’s voice caused Snake to shiver in what he thought could be fear…and he hoped that Ocelot wouldn’t do anything rash.

“Yeah…I didn’t mean to…” Snake smiled guiltily…he didn’t like this Ocelot…he would almost prefer the loud temper-prone Russian to this quiet one.

Ocelot began to chuckle and before long it escalated into a full blown laughing fit and Snake would be lying if he say it didn’t confuse him. Glancing at Eva, he froze at the way she grinned at him.

What had he gotten himself into?

The other man’s laughter eventually died out and Ocelot looked at him, a smirk on his face.

“Nice try Snake…but I don’t believe you. Just unlock us already.” Chuckling awkwardly, he shrugged his shoulders.

“I don’t have the key.” Ocelot’s smirk dropped and his face morphed into one of pure fury.

“You have got to be fucking kidding Snake!” Well…there was the loud Russian he remembered…though he couldn’t say that he totally missed this.

“Nope. I thought I had it in my pocket before I left…but when I checked for it…it was gone.” Snake couldn’t meet Ocelot’s gaze…he felt he deserved whatever punishment they decided to dole out to him…but he hoped it wasn’t too bad.

“So what then? Do you expect us to stay stuck together the rest of our lives?” Eva asked him, apparently not too happy with him either.

“No. I’ll figure out how to get them off…” he trailed off before looking at them again, “So did it work?” The exasperated look on Ocelot’s face made it worth the spatula that was flung at him and nearly hit him in the face.

“Just get them off.” He finally closed the distance between them and grabbed the chain that held them together, trying to judge its strength. It wasn’t something he could break with his bare hands…but perhaps his knife could saw through the chain part of the handcuffs…perhaps not the cuff part itself though.

Motioning for them to follow him into his room, he grabbed his combat knife and held his hand out for the chain.

“You’re just going to cut the chain? What about the wrist part?” Eva gave him an incredulous look and he shrugged.

“I can’t do anything about those without the key…I’ll figure something out though.” Grabbing the chain, he started to saw at the metal links with his knife. He couldn’t tell if it was actually doing anything, but he continued, resolving himself to save his two best friends from the fate that he placed upon them.

His hand slipped and he could feel the knife slice through the flesh on his index finger. Jerking his hand back in reflex, he muttered a curse, checking his finger for the damage.

“Karma’s a bitch.” Ocelot muttered loud enough for him to hear and Snake didn’t doubt that he had said it so that he could hear. Ocelot grabbed his hand to look over his injury and Snake watched as his gaze went from bloody finger to his face.

“You’ll live.” Snake chuckled at his friend’s diagnosis. Turning his gaze to his bags where he had bandages, Snake blinked in surprise.

“Hey, look at that.” Moving past both Eva and Ocelot to get to his bed where his bags were placed, Snake reached down and picked up a small silver object, holding it up for the other two to see what he found.

“Is that the key?” Eva reached her hand out to grab the key from his hand, but Snake moved it out of her reach.

“Yep. I must have left it here on accident.” Snake smiled at them, and after a long nine days, unlocked the handcuffs that had bound the two spies together.

“You mean…if we had come in here…we could have found the key and unlocked the handcuffs at any time?” Eva asked disbelievingly, her voice sounding far off.

“Yep…I suppose so. Funny huh?” Finding this funny, Snake chuckled…but it died off at the pissed off looks on his friends’ faces.

“No. It’s not funny. I haven’t showered in nine days.” Eva crossed her arms across her chest, huffing and spinning on her heel to leave Snake alone with Ocelot.

“Snake…” Ocelot gained his attention and he looked over to the blond, cocking an eyebrow to let him know he was listening. “If you _ever_ try something like that again…I will make sure you aren’t around to try a third time. Got it?” Snake didn’t know if he was joking…or if he truly meant what he said.

 

^^^

 

Sure…it was a bluff, but Ocelot had to let him know that it was unacceptable to do something like that again.

His bluff obviously worked, since Snake nodded, shifting on his feet almost uncomfortably.

Smirking at the other man, Ocelot reached out to place his hand on his shoulder.

“That doesn’t mean you are getting away with it this time though.” He almost laughed at the way Snake’s head snapped in his direction, his single eye widened in what he thought was surprise. Snake sighed, seemingly feeling resigned to his fate.

“What is it then?” The way he grumbled made Ocelot smile, glad that he was home and safe.

“Oh, you’ll see.” Waving over his shoulder as he walked out of Snake’s room, he missed the horrified look on Snake’s face.

As he returned to the kitchen, he unconsciously rubbed his wrist, more than happy to finally have his freedom.

The first two days that he was stuck to Eva had been the most eventful. After her confession, they both had silently agreed to talk only if it were necessary…which didn’t turn out to be often. Eva hadn’t tried to jump him again, and for that he was glad. After day five hit, they didn’t really think about their situation…they were more worried about where Snake had disappeared to. He had said five days max…and yet he hadn’t returned yet and that rose some red flags.

They had really begun to worry after a week came and went and there was still no sign of Snake…but neither of them wanted to even bring up the possibility that he may not come back.

He couldn’t even begin to explain how the feeling of relief that washed over him when he heard the same gruff voice that he had grown to love again felt.

Turning back on the stovetop to finish cooking up the French toast that he had been making for breakfast, Ocelot smiled to himself.

Snake was back and he was safe…that was all that mattered right now.

He turned his head at the sound of one of the barstools being scraped across the floor as it was moved.

Snake sat on the stool, the closest thing to a pout that the grown man could do on his face.

“You know…I’m sorry for what I did.” Snake blinked his eye, trying to pass off an innocent look.

“I know…but that doesn’t mean you get out of your punishment.” Turning away from Snake, he heard an irritated huff. “Act like a child all you want John, but it’s not going to work.” He glanced at Snake over his shoulder and he smirked at the surprised look on Snake’s face at the use of his actual name.

“You remember?” Snake was truly shocked that he had remembered his name, given to him seven years ago on the WIG.

“Of course. I told you that I would remember it. Question is…do you remember mine?” Turning fully towards Snake again, he cocked his eyebrow challengingly. Snake was quiet for a minute and Ocelot figured that meant that he had forgotten. His attention went back to the French toast, disappointment sharp and bitter in the back of his throat.

“If I can remember it…will you promise no punishment?” Ocelot laughed… _Well…I guess I can’t blame him for trying._

“Hmm…well, that isn’t very fair. I remembered your name and I didn’t get anything.” Spinning around again to face the brunet, Ocelot leaned against the counter, his arms across his chest. A pause…

“What do you want then?”

_A kiss…_

That wasn’t going to happen anytime soon, so Ocelot thought about it for a moment…but couldn’t really think about anything else he wanted from Snake. Shrugging, he glanced at the breakfast before looking back at Snake.

“I’ll think about it. And…I suppose I’ll promise no punishment from me.” The way that Snake’s face beamed in success made Ocelot smile… _I mean…it’s unlikely that he’ll remember since my name is strange._

“Alright then. It’s a promise and you can’t back down on it now.” Snake narrowed his eye at him as if he thought that Ocelot would back out on his promise…

…which he still might just for laughs…

Raising his hands in a mock surrender, Ocelot smiled innocent like at him.

Snake remained silent for a few moments before his face lit up again and he grinned at him. “I sure hope you have enough pride to not back out on your promise _Adamska_.” The sound of his name made him jolt in surprise. His face must have betrayed his shock because Snake started laughing.

“You thought I didn’t remember.” The bastard tricked him…

“You hustled me.” Ocelot frowned, huffing at Snake angrily.

“Everything is fair in love and war.” The damn bastard was so proud of himself…but Ocelot still had something up his own sleeve.

“Fine…whatever…I promised that I won’t punish you and I won’t…but…” That got a pause from Snake, who narrowed his eye at him. “Doesn’t mean that Eva still won’t punish you. And believe me, her idea for punishment was _much_ worse than mine.” The mirth was gone from the other man’s eye and he regained the pout from earlier.

“That’s not fair.” This caused Ocelot to laugh, catching Eva’s eyes as she walked in after having taken her shower.

“What’s so funny?” Eva joined Snake at the counter island, sitting next to him.

“He’s cheating.” Snake pointed at Ocelot, who huffed amusedly.

“Cheating at what?” He shot back, earning an unamused glower from Snake.

“He said no punishment and lied.” Ocelot shook his head at that.

“No, I said that _I_ wouldn’t punish you. I never said anything about Eva.” Glancing at Eva, he caught the amused twinkle in her eye at the punishment that was in store for Snake.

 

^^^

 

Eva looked to Snake who was staring at her intently.

“You won’t punish me…will you Eva?” Eva smiled at his attempt, cute…but it wasn’t going to work.

“You do the crime you do the time Snake.” She giggled at the crestfallen look on his face, then leaned closer to him. “Though I may rethink it if…” She trailed off teasingly…there wasn’t anything that she was going to say after that, she just wanted to plant the idea that he may have a sliver of a chance of getting out of punishment before crushing his hope…it was a long nine days of worrying about his sorry ass after all.

“If?” Snake leaned closer to her, a smile starting to break out across his face.

“Oh, never mind.” She backed away, shaking her head at him then ruffled his hair.

“You two are mean.” Both she and Ocelot laughed at Snake’s grumbled words.

“Who ever said I was nice?” Chuckling at Ocelot’s words, she shook her head again. He really wasn’t that bad of a person…at least when you were on his side and he wasn’t planning on betraying you.

Snake grumbled something that Eva couldn’t catch, but she chuckled anyways.

Soon the food was done and Ocelot placed a plate in front of her, a smirk on his face. She smiled back, thanking him before glancing at Snake who looked like he was about to drool as he stared at her food.

Snake looked over to Ocelot who placed another plate on the counter, but out of Snake’s reach. Picking up his own fork, he took a bite and Eva could have sworn that he stared at Snake as he did so.

“Where’s mine?” Snake asked, staring at first Ocelot’s plate of food, then at his face. Ocelot placed his fork down and gave Snake a quizzical look.

“Yours? Who said I was making you anything?” Eva chuckled, she knew that he had in fact made enough for all three of them…but she assumed this was a loop-hole around Snake’s no punishment thing that she was still unaware on how he had managed to enact.

Snake dropped his gaze to the countertop, grumbling and crossing his arms across his chest petulantly. Ocelot sent a look her way and she just smiled and rolled her eyes. She knew that they were thinking about the same thing.

_It was good to have him back._

^^^

 

Picking up something, Ocelot walked around the counter to stand behind Snake.

“Maybe next time, don’t handcuff me to Eva.” Snake could feel the other man’s breath on his ear as he leaned over his shoulder.

Lighting up tremendously as Ocelot placed the third plate that he had been hiding from him in front of him, Snake licked his lips, more than looking forward to eating something other than animals that he cooked over a fire.

He could feel the way that Ocelot lingered close to him after placing the plate down and he was wondering if there was more to what Ocelot was going to say. Before he could turn around and ask, Ocelot backed up and returned to his place on the other side of the counter island.

Glancing at Ocelot, Snake narrowed his eye in confusion at how withdrawn he looked all of a sudden. Ocelot caught his gaze, smirking at him.

“If you don’t want it then I…” Snake cut him off, glad to see that there wasn’t anything wrong with the blond man.

“No! I want it.” Grabbing his fork and picking up a whole piece of French toast, Snake shoved it into his mouth, smiling around the food at the Russian, who looked disgusted.

“You’re going to choke if you keep doing that…and don’t expect me to try to save your sorry ass if that happens.” Shaking his head at Snake, Ocelot frowned at him and his eating habits…not that Snake made a habit of shoving all his food into his mouth at once.

Swallowing his food before responding, Snake wiped his mouth on his sleeve. “And then you’d miss me.”

Ocelot chuckled once, smiling softly. “You’re probably right.”

Snake didn’t know how to respond to that…he had expected some smart ass remark about how it’d be all worth the few moments of watching him choke on a piece of French toast…how his epitaph would say ‘Death by Toast’…

Eva broke the silence that followed. “So, what happened during your mission?” Snake looked over to her and shrugged.

“I misjudged how many enemy guards were in one of the rooms…they chased me out of the building and I had to wait until they lifted the alert on the building before trying to reenter.” He didn’t really think it was that bad…he was only confused as to why Zero disappeared part way through his mission, failing to relay any Intel to him over the radio and that had ended with him being distracted and miscounting the number of guards.

“Oh…well, at least you are alright.” Eva smiled softly at him and he was reminded of Groznyj Grad. “At least there wasn’t someone like Volgin around to capture you huh?” Apparently Eva had been reminded of the same things and he smirked.

“Yeah, nor did I have some kid following me around all the time trying to show off.” Snake bit his lip to keep the grin that threatened to give away his amusement. Glancing over to Ocelot, Snake nearly flinched at the burning anger that radiated off of the Russian at his quip.

Eva burst into laughter, ignoring the glare that Ocelot sent her as she did so.

“Yeah? Well, at least you didn’t have a whore following you around trying to get into your pants before stealing something important from you then ditching you.” Ocelot shot back, silencing Eva’s laughter into a glare of her own.

“At least I didn’t try to kill him all the time.” Eva snarled at him, crossing her arms over her chest defiantly.

“I didn’t.” Ocelot rebutted, his hands going to his hips, “It was a blank the entire time, so I couldn’t have killed him even if I had shot him.”

Snake sighed…he had thought that his plan had worked…but it was apparent that they still didn’t get along.

Ignoring the two arguing, he got to thinking about what he could do next to try to hook them up. He was starting to run out of ideas that were really good…

He was also hoping that Eva would forget about his punishment…but he figured that was unlikely…

…unless she had something else to distract her from it.

Like Ocelot.

Looking over to the two blondes who were standing only inches apart from each other and looked as if they were about to strangle the other one, Snake realized something.

He needed to get them laid.

He knew that when tensions were high, getting laid was one the fastest ways to relax.

So now he had the end in sight…but he needed a way to get them to the end…and fast.

He chuckled, earning the attention of the other two.

“What’s so funny?” Eva huffed at him, her glare having not eased from earlier.

“Nothing…just a thought.” Eva and Ocelot glanced at each other and Snake cocked his eyebrow in confusion. Weren’t they just about to rip each other’s throats out…and now they are sharing secret knowing glances?

“Do I dare ask?” Ocelot asked rhetorically, shaking his head.

“You’ll know later.” Snake said, standing and walking out of the room, leaving the other two to wonder what the hell they had in store in for them.

 

^^^

 

Ocelot watched as Snake left them behind and sighed, running his hand through his short hair. He looked over to Eva, having lost all of his earlier anger at her.

“What do you think that was about?” He questioned, but doubted that she knew any more than what he did.

“I have no clue. But then again…it’s Snake.” She looked over at him, her blue eyes meeting his own. “You never know what goes on inside his head.” They both chuckled, almost scared to figure out what Snake was up to.

Sighing once more, Ocelot placed his hand on her shoulder. “Be careful and be on alert…I’m sure this is another one of his stupid plans to try to hook us up again.” Releasing her shoulder, he followed the same path Snake had taken out of the kitchen, but wandered over to Zero’s part of the building to see if the older man had returned.

Reaching Zero’s office, he knocked once and upon hearing the call from the other side to enter, he opened the door and stepped in.

“Ocelot.” Nodding at Zero’s welcome, he cast his gaze over the other man’s body, looking for signs of where the other man had been for the past seven days. “Do you need something?” His eyes snapped back up to Zero’s and he paused before responding.

“Not really. I just was checking to see if you had returned sir.” Ocelot tensed as Zero stood from his chair and walked over to him.

“There is no need to call me sir. We are friends after all.” The smile that was on Zero’s face made Ocelot nervous…there was something behind the smile and he couldn’t figure out what he was hiding.

Forcing himself to smile back lest he look strange, he nodded, “Of course.” Shifting on his feet Ocelot glanced at the door before looking back to Zero, forgetting to return the smile on his face.

“I’ve heard about the instructor I recommended to you.” Ocelot was momentarily confused…Instructor? He nearly jolted as he remembered the interrogation instructor that Zero had recommended to him…the one that he ended up killing.

Ocelot chuckled nervously, though the sound of it sounded genuine. “What can I say? Interrogation is one thing…abuse is another…I didn’t like the way he taught.” It sounded lame when he tried to rationalize why he had killed the man…but he found that he could care less.

“I understand.” Zero nodded, turning to look out the window behind his desk, his arms resting by his side.

They stood in silence for a few moments and Ocelot found himself drawn to the older man’s side. Staring out into the forest that surrounded the building, nothing was said for a time that seemed to drag on and Ocelot couldn’t even guess on how long it was before another word was said between them.

“I understand that you do not trust me.” The sound of Zero’s voice caused him to jump slightly. Turning to look at the other man, Ocelot cocked an eyebrow at him, though Zero didn’t look at him.

“I’m not understanding what you are talking about…” He did…but after years of being a spy, old habits die hard.

“I know you do Ocelot. I’m no fool.” Zero turned his head to finally look at him. “I’m hoping that this distrust you have for me will lessen with time though.” Moving his gaze back out the window, Ocelot didn’t know how to respond for a while.

“I’m sure it will…I just…find it hard to trust anyone these days.” Placing his hand on the cold surface of the window, Ocelot stared down at the flowers, reminded of when Snake had picked a bunch of them and gave them to Eva in his name.

“You trust Snake.” Ocelot looked back to Zero, the surprise on his face evident. He thought about if for a moment, before nodding, silently agreeing to Zero’s comment.

“I do…but he is an exception.” Looking back out the window so that he didn’t have to watch as Zero stared at him, Ocelot almost wished that he hadn’t come here alone…there was just something about Zero that told him that he shouldn’t trust the other man.

“And you trust Eva…at least a little.” His head snapped back to stare at Zero again in surprise. He had to think about that one longer than he had to with Snake…but he found himself agreeing once again.

“I suppose so…but my trust in her is shaky.” He shook his head, returning his attention to the outside world.

“I trust you.” Ocelot didn’t turn his head this time…he was trying to figure out Zero’s problem. _He trusts me? Is he insane?_

After a minute, Ocelot returned his eyes to the older man, staring at him for a few moments, “You are crazy then.” He meant it…but Zero just laughed it off.

“Perhaps I am…but you, Snake and the other Patriots are all I have now.” Zero took a step closer to him, closing the already too small distance between them. “You five are all I have to help me create the world that the Boss wanted.”

The mention of the blonde haired woman that he associated so strongly with his time with Volgin and meeting Snake made Ocelot jolt. There had always been something…strange about her. The way she treated him was…different that how she treated the other soldiers. There had been more than once that he had wanted to be snarky with her and ask her something along the lines of “What do you think you are? My mother?” but his respect for the older woman had always stilled his tongue.

Zero placed his hand on his shoulder, causing Ocelot to flinch away from the touch.

“Do you know the truth about The Boss?” Wracking his brain for what Zero may have been talking about, he found that he had no idea what the other man could be talking about. He shook his head, opting to stay quiet for the moment.

Zero pushed on his shoulder, making him face the older man completely as Zero stared at him intently.

“She was your mother.” Forgetting to breath, Ocelot stared at Zero, his eyes widening for a moment before he wiped any emotions off his face. “She couldn’t tell you herself…didn’t want you to screw up your mission by telling you…” Zero slid his hand down his arm slightly, letting his hand rest on Ocelot’s elbow, but he didn’t move an inch.

“She wanted you to know…wanted to tell you herself. I’ve known her for quite a long time…and she was devastated when she lost you, but she could never go after you after the Philosophers took you away from her…” Ocelot didn’t want to hear any more…

“Zero…is there any reason why you are telling me this? If not…I’d like to get to work.” He couldn’t believe everything he was hearing…he didn’t want to believe _anything_ he was hearing.

“I…I guess I thought that you should at least know the truth.” Zero let go of his arm and took a step back…Ocelot couldn’t bear to look at Zero for much longer.

“I’d…like to talk with you within the next couple of days…but I need time to straighten a few things out first.” Zero sat back down in his chair, signaling that Ocelot could leave, which he did as soon as he could.

He didn’t look back as the door shut behind him…he just kept walking away from Zero…he may have been running away from the truth…but he couldn’t care.

It was just too much right now.

 

^^^

 

Eva watched as Ocelot walked out of the kitchen. She huffed, shaking her head.

“Stupid plan to hook us up? Maybe I don’t think that they are stupid…sure they are bad plans but it is sweet.” Walking out of the kitchen herself, she headed over to where she normally met up with Para-medic. The other woman smiled as Eva sat next to her.

“Finally get the handcuffs off then?” Eva knew that the question was rhetorical, but she nodded anyways.

“Yep…though Snake scared us and said he lost the key for them.” Eva turned her gaze to said brunet man as he walked in and smirked. “And then he tried to get out of the punishment that he is due.” Raising her voice so that Snake could hear her, she smiled as he looked over to her with a pout on his face.

“Ocelot is nice and isn’t going to punish me.” She shook her head at him and smiled at Para-medic’s amused look.

“Ocelot isn’t punishing him?” Para-medic cocked her head at her, possibly in confusion.

“No…I guess not. I don’t know how Snake sweet talked him out of it…but it doesn’t matter anyways.” Eva’s eyes followed the man’s path out of the room before looking back at the other woman.

“No?” Eva laughed, leaning closer to Para-medic as to tell her a secret.

“There was never a punishment in the first place.” At her confused look, she explained more. “We couldn’t figure out a punishment that would even faze Snake…so we decided that we shouldn’t do anything. Snake will think that we are going to do something to him, and he is waiting for something to happen.” Para-medic’s face lit up as she understood.

“But nothing will actually happen. He’ll just be paranoid that something will happen…but nothing will.” They laughed together, going quiet as Snake walked back into the room.

“What’s so funny?” Snake narrowed his eye at them suspiciously, his eye going from Eva to Para-medic back to Eva.

“Para-medic said she’d help me punish you.” They burst back into laughter at Snake’s horrified look.

“WHY? What did I do to you?” He looked at Para-medic, his betrayal written across his face.

“Hmm…well…during Snake Eater you asked me what everything tasted like.” She chuckled as Snake crossed his arms across his chest petulantly.

“You were supposed to help me…besides you let me eat that mushroom that made me go to sleep without warning me about what it would do.” Snake huffed and Eva thought of a child arguing with its parents unsuccessfully.

“I’m just surprised that you didn’t ask me what one of the soldiers tasted like.” Para-medic shot back, causing Eva to laugh.

Snake groaned at decided that they weren’t worth the trouble to him right now. He was about to leave when Ocelot walked in, his head down. Ocelot didn’t look at any of them before heading to the other half of the building.

Glancing at one another, they silently agreed that there was something wrong with the blond Russian.

“What do you think happened?” Para-medic asked, standing up and walking closer to Snake, who shrugged.

“I’m not sure.” Eva joined the other two and watched Ocelot’s back disappear down the dark hallway to the other building. “I’ll talk to him.” She looked over at Snake as he spoke. Putting a hand on his shoulder, she smiled softly.

“I think that’s a good idea…it’s not like Ocelot to be so quiet.” Snake nodded at her words and followed Ocelot down the hall, trying to catch up with him.

“I hope he’s okay.” Eva turned to look at Para-medic at her words. She smiled again.

“I’m sure he’ll be fine. Ocelot is one of the strongest men I’ve ever met.” They shared a smile and Para-medic nodded.

“Yeah…but even the strongest empires fall.” Eva’s smile dropped at that and she huffed.

“Well…make it worrisome why don’t you. Ocelot will be fine…Snake will make sure of that.” Eva believed what she told the other woman…Snake could walk into a room and she would see the way that Ocelot lit up. She knew that Ocelot loved Snake and she couldn’t blame him…Snake was a charmer after all.

 

 

 


	8. Invitation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is the first time that I've written something like this, hopefully it sounds fine and you all enjoy it.

Darkness and Silence.

Ocelot was familiar with both of these sensations…but it was the first time that they had actually bothered him.

He was breathing heavily, his body still twitching as the remains of an electrical shock resonated throughout his body. The bag over his head limited the amount of air that he could intake and he could feel himself becoming lightheaded, but he refused to give in.

His body jolted as another electrical shock wracked his body, this time focused on his lower back.

A voice.

Trying to catch his breath again, he shook his head minutely, trying to focus on the voice that was talking to him.

“…them to regain thought before hitting them again.” Ocelot couldn’t catch what had come before that, and even now the voice sounded far off. He hadn’t caught his breath fully when he was shocked again, this time in the junction between his neck and shoulder.

He let his head droop, his chin resting on his chest as he inhaled deeply.

Suddenly the bag was ripped off his head and he closed his eyes as the bright light burned.

“Good. I thought that you had passed out on me already.” The voice told him and he finally was able to place the voice.

It was the new instructor that Zero had found for him. Opening one blue eye to look up at the black haired man, he quirked his lip up as far as he could in what would have been a smile.

“I’m not that easy to get rid of.” His throat was raw from the screams that had ripped through his defenses. His instructor smirked, then patted his cheek almost gently as if he hadn’t just shocked him moments before.

“That’s good. A lot of people say the same before they break…now, let’s see if I can break you.” The other man picked up a bottle of something that Ocelot couldn’t figure out. Flipping the lid off and squeezing some of the gel-like substance on his hand, his interrogation instructor rubbed the cold substance on a small spot on his chest.

“A gel can be used instead of water if you need to concentrate the shock into a small area.” Ocelot’s eyes widened as he realized what was happening, but he couldn’t say anything before another shock wracked his body. This time he didn’t scream, but he was sure that was because his throat wouldn’t be able to make any sounds after this.

The current was cut and Ocelot’s chin met his chest once again as he inhaled deeply, not being able to get enough oxygen into his lungs.

“You still with me?” His instructor asked him and he took a few more seconds before forcing his head to lift off his chest and look at the black haired man.

“As I said…I’m not so easily gotten rid of.” The other man laughed before untying Ocelot and helping down onto a chair. It was only then that Ocelot realized his shoulders ached from his wrists being tied up and him being hanged much like when Volgin tortured Snake.

“I think you’ll go far kid.” His instructor started putting his equipment away as Ocelot recovered. “One thing that makes a good interrogator…” Ocelot looked up at the other man inquisitively, “Is when they only apply tactics that they themselves have experienced…otherwise they don’t know what the fuck they are doing and it turns into a mindless torture session when their tactic doesn’t work.” Ocelot thought about that for a moment before nodding and pushing himself up to stand…albeit a bit wobbly.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Ocelot forced a smile as he rubbed his lower back. His instructor chuckled, moving over to stand next to Ocelot.

“Do that, and one day you’ll be a great interrogator.” Ocelot smirked at that. He definitely saw the appeal in interrogation now. The other man nodded at him before turning around to grab his case that held his equipment. “Meet me here the same time next week.” And then he was gone, leaving Ocelot alone in the darkened room that smelled of piss and blood. Crinkling his nose at the smell, Ocelot resolved that if he had his own interrogation room one day, he’d keep it spotless. He didn’t need the awful odors to intimidate others.

Once he felt like he could walk safely again, he left the small building and headed back to Patriots HQ, his thoughts racing.

Earlier that week he had learned about his parentage from Zero and then was confronted by Snake.

_“What’s the matter kid?” Snake asked as he walked into Ocelot’s room without knocking. Ocelot looked up at him and sighed._

_“Didn’t your mother ever tell you to knock before entering someone’s room?” Ocelot huffed as Snake actually thought about his question._

_“Nope. So what’s wrong?” Snake sat on the bed next to him, his eye betraying how worried he was about him. Ocelot couldn’t help the touched smile that adorned his face._

_“Nothing…at least…not now.” He almost chortled at how cheesy that sounded…but it was the truth for once. Snake didn’t hold back his chuckle._

_“Well…that’s good then.” Snake squeezed his knee affectionately before standing and holding his hand out to pull Ocelot up, which Ocelot suspiciously looked at before accepting the hand if only to feel Snake’s hand in his own._

_“If there is ever anything wrong Adamska…” Ocelot jolted at the use of his name, “You can always tell me. I’ll never judge you…” He wanted to tell Snake then and there that he loved him…but he couldn’t. He smiled instead opting to shove Snake’s shoulder playfully._

_“Why so serious John?” Snake chuckled and shook his head softly. “And the same goes to you. If there is anything wrong…I’ll always be there for you.” He meant it…and he hoped that Snake knew that he had meant it._

Ocelot broke out of his thoughts as he realized that he was already at the door leading to Patriot’s HQ. He huffed, angry that he would let his concentration lapse so much before opening the door and entering.

Taking a shower to wash away the morning, Ocelot felt better…though very much sore.

Walking into the common area, he smiled at Snake who was eating a sandwich and Eva who had been talking to Snake.

 

^^^

 

Eva returned Ocelot’s smile, but decided to not question him as to what he had been up to all morning. He was walking as if he was sore, but usually he only was sore if he had been sparring with Snake…which he hadn’t.

“Hey! There you are!” Eva turned her attention to Snake at his outburst. Snake shoved the rest of his sandwich into his mouth before standing up. “I need your help.” Eva narrowed her eyebrows at Snake in confusion. He turned around to look at her and smiled, “I need yours too.”

Eva looked past Snake to glance at Ocelot, who looked as confused as she did.

She stood and followed Snake and Ocelot…into Ocelot’s room?

Snake let both of them walk into the room, but opted to stand in the doorway.

“What exactly do you need us to do?” Ocelot beat her to voicing his confusion.

“Get along.” With that Snake slammed the door shut, leaving the two of them alone inside. Eva groaned in annoyance…

Ocelot growled, walking over to the door to open it since he knew the doors don’t lock. Turning the knob and pushing on the door…it didn’t budge. Ocelot made a confused sound and tried again…to no avail.

Eva huffed and walked over, grabbing the knob herself…the doors **don’t** lock…there was no way that Snake could have locked them in there…but when she tried to open the door…it didn’t budge.

“SNAKE! GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE AND UNLOCK THE DOOR!” Eva winced when Ocelot yelled for Snake…she would have yelled herself had he not beaten her to it again.

The response they got from Snake was on the other side of the door…but it wasn’t what they wanted to hear.

“Nope. Not until you get along and play nice.” Snake told them, sounding very much amused and proud of himself.

Ocelot groaned, sitting down on his bed, the springs creaking under the added weight. Eva sighed before joining the Russian on the bed.

“I knew he was up to something…” Eva agreed, though she had to say that this wasn’t what she had been expecting…it was a little childish if you asked her.

“Yep…problem is how do we get out of this?” Ocelot looked over to her, a frown plastered on his face and not looking amused at all.

“You heard Snake…we get along and play nice.” Eva’s mind ran rampant with the ideas of what that could possibly ensue. Her eyes running the length of his body, she bit her lip, wondering if she could use his soreness to her advantage again…much like when she almost jumped him a few weeks ago.

“What were you doing this morning?” She shifted her leg further onto the bed so that she could face him better. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and snorted.

“Why do you want to know?” he was getting defensive and it made her even more determined to figure out what he was up to.

“I’m just wondering why you showed up this morning sore.” He turned his head to look at her closer and he seemed perplexed.

“Sore?” He paused, his blue eyes meeting hers, “…why do you say that? I’m not sore.” Now he was denying the obvious and it made her suspicious…but she also knew that if she kept pushing the subject, he would snap and the rest of her plan wouldn’t even leave the ground.

“Yes you are…now here…” Moving around so that she was sitting behind him, she shook her head as he tensed up tremendously, his head turning to follow her movement. Settling behind him, she started to run her hands across his shoulders, massaging the knots in his muscles away.

“What are you doing?” He sounded like he was on to her…but that didn’t make her stall in her ministrations, knowing this time how to get him riled up faster.

“Helping you, now shush.” For once in his life, Eva thought that perhaps he had listened to what someone else told him to do.

Working away the soreness in his neck and upper back, she drifted lower. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she tugged him further up the bed, but left him still sitting with his legs over the edge…she didn’t need him to get comfortable on the bed.

After working the tightness out of his lower back she shifted again, this time settling her legs around his hips, her legs pressing against his. Pressing herself against him, she heard him sigh in what she hoped was a pleasant expression.

Continuing her smokescreen, she started to absentmindedly rub his stomach and chest.

“Feel good?” Whispering into his ear, she smiled at the way he shuddered as her breath ghosted on his ear. He nodded minutely and she started to get excited…perhaps she will actually be able to get somewhere with him this time.

Continuing with her rubbing on his lower stomach, she held her breath as she moved her hands to his thighs, feeling him tense against her. Rubbing circles against his leg, she held him close to her.

“It’s okay. Just let this happen.” She could hear him trying to regain control of his breathing that was starting to become heavy. He hadn’t relaxed and as she moved her hand closer to his cock, he tensed further.

Planting a kiss behind his ear, she felt him jolt in surprise, his breathing hitching as he did so. She kept planting small kisses down his neck, trying to get him to relax at least a little. When he did, albeit only a barely perceptible amount, she smiled in victory, knowing she was winning.

Finally deciding that she could start moving her hand that was placed over his cock, she teased him a bit, not wanting to scare him away by moving too fast.

His hands were on either side of her legs clenching the bedsheets hard enough to make his knuckles white. She knew he was fighting it…and she wanted him to give up the fight and go with it.

Applying more pressure to his clothed cock, he groaned, his head falling back to rest on her shoulder. She giggled, pressing a kiss to his temple as she squeezed again, earning her another moan. It wasn’t the first time that she wondered if he was a virgin…but watching him now, she was almost certain he was.

Pressing her hand down once more, she figured he was ready enough…she was more aroused than she had thought she would have gotten and she needed him now.

Scooting away from him, she earned an unamused grunt from Ocelot. Getting off the bed, she observed her handiwork with a grin. His face was flushed and the tent in his pants was really visible…she didn’t think he’d be able to deny her a second time.

He glared at her. “What the hell do you think you are doing?” He tried to sound pissed off, but it didn’t come off as angry as he had tried to make it sound.

“Just wait a minute…” Walking over to stand in between his legs, she looked down at him, a smile across her face. “I’m only getting started.” He grunted, opening his legs further to let her step even closer to him.

Cupping his face with both of her hands, she tilted his head back. Dropping her head down to press her lips against his, her stomach seemed to fill with butterflies and soar. He tilted his head to the side and pressed his hand to the back of her neck, pulling her closer and she almost whimpered. Moaning slightly into his mouth, Eva felt pleased with herself. She had finally broken down Ocelot’s defensive walls and taken her prize…and she was damn sure going to enjoy every second of it since she didn’t know if she would be able to do this again.

Sitting on his lap, her legs straddling his hips, she started to grind against his erection. Their movements were almost frantic as they rubbed against each other while their tongues danced.

Eva pulled back first, her chest heaving and a giddy grin on her face. Her eyes met his and she saw how much she had actually affected him and it made her feel victorious.

Sliding off of his lap with a small complaint from the man, he stopped himself from saying anything as she got on her knees between his legs, a smirk across her face.

Rubbing her cheek against his inner thigh, her fingers fumbled with his belt, trying to rid him off his pants.

Getting what she was trying to do, he moved her hands away from his belt and her eyes snapped up to look at him. She moved back as he stood and her stomach dropped from the high she was on…was he stopping this now? After everything else? Seeing him undoing his belt made her squirm in anticipation…was he really letting her do this?

She helped him pull his pants off and she kicked them into the corner of the room, forgotten for the moment. Ocelot sat back down on the edge of the bed, staring at her under hooded lids. Scooting back to her original position, she nuzzled his erection, giggling at the moan he released at the sensation.

Eva’s fingers ghosted at the waistband of his boxers and she couldn’t help but tease him a little.

“Ever done this before cowboy? Or is this your first rodeo?” The glare he sent her way was morphed by how horny he looked and she bit her lip so she wouldn’t laugh and ruin her chances with him.

“Does it matter if it is?” He sounded as insecure as someone as proud as Ocelot could…and she smiled at him softly.

“No. Not at all. I just wanted to know.” Normally, he would snap back at her wondering why she wanted to know, and then she would snap back some other response that her sex addled mind didn’t even want to try to think about right now…not when she knew what was coming.

Pulling his boxers, he groaned as his erection was freed and she couldn’t help but compare him to the other men she had been with.

Flicking her tongue out to lick the tip, she giggled as he bit down on his hand to muffle the sounds that were threatening to escape his throat.

Grabbing his length in her hand, she started pumping him slowly, enjoying his muffled moans and the way he was falling apart under her touches.

Releasing her grasp, she looked up at him under her lashes and smirked at him, almost daring him to tell her to stop now.

 

^^^

 

Snake returned from his brief meeting with Zero that didn’t give him any insight as to why the man had disappeared during him mission.

Stopping by Ocelot’s door, he paused, listening in.

There wasn’t any screaming, which was good. Maybe that meant that they weren’t fighting…unless one of them was dead.

He heard the sound of something metallic hitting the floor and sliding across the floor closer to the door.

Stepping closer to the bookcase that he had placed against the door to keep it shut, Snake wondered what was going on between them.

There was a brief moment of silence before a quiet moan drifted through the silence and Snake froze.

Was one of them hurt? Did Ocelot stab Eva…no…wait…Thinking back, Snake realized the moan sounded more masculine…so did Eva stab Ocelot?

He was about to move the bookcase and break his way in when he heard the telltale mutterings of someone talking.

Eva?

So they were both alive as far as Snake could tell…he just wasn’t sure in what condition they were in.

He heard Ocelot groan again and Snake had just about had enough…he didn’t think it was worth losing one of his closest friends in order to try to bring them together.

Shifting the bookcase slightly, he paused again as he heard another groan, this one sounded muffled…as if Ocelot had bitten down on something to stay quiet.

Or had been gagged by Eva so that no one heard him…

There was another moment of silence and Snake used that moment to shove the bookcase out of the way entirely. Grabbing the door handle something made him pause…

..what if they weren’t killing each other?

…what if they were doing something more…intimate?

But what if they weren’t and Ocelot needed his help?

Dropping his hand away from the door handle, Snake started to pace, trying to debate on what was the best COA.

He could go in and check on them…see if they were getting along…but then there was the possibility that they were having sex and he would be interrupting.

And he really didn’t want to see how Ocelot would react to him walking in on them.

He liked his head bullet-less.

Groaning, he slid down the wall…

He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do.

 

^^^

 

Looking down at Eva on her knees in between his legs with his cock free and harder than he thought it had ever been made Ocelot wonder why he had fought so hard against this before.

He smirked down at her as batted her eyes at him and he felt like she was daring him to tell her to stop this time.

What did she think he was? Crazy?

He couldn’t possibly tell her to stop now…he had already sold his soul to the succubus and there wasn’t any going back.

He frowned down at her as she stared up at him doing absolutely nothing. She smiled before returning her attention back to his cock, her lips wrapping around the head and her tongue playing with the tip.

Biting down harder on his hand, he watched with an intense fascination as she teased his cock, taking him further into her mouth.

Holding his breath, he watched as his cock disappeared inside her mouth until it hit the back of her throat.

The sensations were almost too much for him and he tried his best to not come undone right then and there.

Bobbing her head up and down his length, Eva hummed slightly, the vibrations shooting straight into his lower belly and making it even harder for him to keep his composure.

Threading his fingers through her blonde hair, he rested his hand on her head, but let her continue with the rhythm she had set.

Her tongue danced around his cock, occasionally lapping at the slit.

It was just too much.

Releasing a guttural groan as he came in her mouth, he let his hand drop from her head as his eyes rolled back in his head.

Eva stepped back, a grin plastered on her face obviously thinking she had won their little game…and Ocelot found that he just couldn’t care anymore.

Lying back on the bed, his legs still hanging over the edge, Ocelot watched Eva as she stripped to her underwear. Crawling over his body to situate herself over his chest, she smiled down at him.

“Enjoy that?” He shot her a glare…did she really need him to answer that?

Sitting on his chest, Ocelot could feel how wet Eva was and smirked.

“Apparently you did too.” She rolled her eyes at him, but didn’t say anything.

“So, I take it that you have never pleasured a woman before?” He wasn’t sure if she was trying to mock him, but he nodded anyways. “Alright then.” She grabbed his hand, ridding him of his glove. He stared at her, feeling really out of his element.

Slipping her panties off, they too disappeared into the corner of forgotten clothes for the moment. Grabbing his hand again, she positioned it at her entrance, throwing him a quick smirk before shoving two of his fingers in.

He had no idea what she was doing…but he let her continue. She shifted around a few times, apparently pleased at the feeling.

“You know, you could move your fingers.” Her eyes met his and he blinked at her before doing what she said and started to move his fingers inside of her.

She felt strange…warm and very wet…but it wasn’t too bad. Grinding against his fingers, Eva seemed to be enjoying herself, yet unlike him, she wasn’t making any sounds.

At this point Ocelot had come down from the super high he had been on from his first orgasm brought about by another person and he was more than ready to repay her for her earlier teasing.

Trying to make her lose her composure, Ocelot started to increase the speed of his movements and watching her face, attempting to figure out how to drive her crazy.

Unknowingly, he pressed his thumb against her clit and she jolted, moaning out loud. The look on her face when she realized that she had moaned was priceless and Ocelot was determined to make her make another sound like that.

Looking for the spot again, he smirked when he did and Eva screwed her eyes shut, trying to stay quiet…but it wasn’t working too well for her. She soon devolved into a mess of moans, her hips frantically grinding against his hand, searching for her own release.

It took longer for her to find that sweet release that she had been looking for, but when she did, boy did she let everyone know. Her screams of pleasure were unlike anything Ocelot had ever heard.

Slipping his fingers out of her, Ocelot brought them up to his face to look at them. Eva had flopped down to lay her head on his chest, her own chest heaving with the exertion of her orgasm.

He wiped his fingers on his sheets, mentally reminding himself to clean them later.

The room stayed silent, other than the sounds of them breathing, for a while afterwards.

Eva eventually slid off of Ocelot, standing and searching for her clothes.

Once she had dressed, she walked towards the door, turning around to look at him before leaving.

“Now…that wasn’t that bad was it?” not waiting for an answer, she spun around, flinging the door open and shutting it behind her.

_No…it wasn’t really that bad._

Stretching out on his bed, he felt relaxed after everything that had happened that day.

 

^^^

 

 Sated for the moment and more than pleased with herself at finally, finally breaking down Ocelot’s defenses, Eva ran her fingers through her hair, her mind racing at the thought of going even further in the future.

She shut the door to Ocelot’s room behind her and froze.

Snake was sitting on the floor next to the door, staring up at her like a deer caught in the headlights…or more like a snake caught listening in to her and Ocelot’s activity.

“Uhh…hey.” Snake said lamely, standing from the floor and adjusting his pants while staring down at the floor awkwardly.

“Hey.” She returned, an idea shooting through her head and she smirked at him. “Enjoying yourself there?” Crossing her arms across her chest to puff out her boobs, she chuckled when his eye dropped to the eye candy before shooting back up to meet her eyes.

“I…don’t know what you mean…” She rolled her eyes. It was obvious what she was talking about and she knew that he knew exactly what she meant.

“Yes you do.” She turned and walked about ten paces down the hallway before pausing, turning her head back to look over her shoulder at the brunet. “Oh and Snake?” Gaining his attention, she smiled innocently at her, despite what she was about to suggest to him. “Next time, why don’t you join us?”

He blinked at her, his mouth agape at what she just told him. Recovering, he walked towards her.

“Join you? But…Ocelot…” He started but she cut him off with a wave of her hand.

“Would enjoy it if you did.” Again, he stared at her like she was speaking another language, shaking his head to make sure that this was real.

“Really? Are you certain?” Snake seemed skeptical and she didn’t doubt that he was having a hard time thinking about having sex with two other people, one of them being a male.

“Yes. I know that he wouldn’t mind.” Eva giggled at his baffled expression, realizing how dense he really was to Ocelot’s crush on him.

“But…he’s a man…” Eva sighed, a sympathetic look on her face.

“Yeah…Snake?” Gaining the brunet’s attention she flipped her hair over her shoulder, her eyes meeting his before continuing, “Do you remember Volgin and Raikov?” Snake stared at her for a few seconds before responding.

“Yeah…you said I was dense about something related to them.” He narrowed his eye at her and she laughed…after all these years, he still didn’t get it…no wonder why he never picked up on Ocelot’s attraction to him.

“They were lovers.”

 

^^^

 

Snake blinked in surprise… _Lovers?_

He was having a hard time believing that men could be lovers…

Looking at Eva, he searched for signs that she was lying…but found none.

Eva placed her hand on his shoulder, smiling softly at him.

“You really don’t understand do you?” Snake frowned at that, he understood that they were lovers now…but it was hard to think as to how or why?

“I do…” Eva sighed at him and he wondered what he was doing wrong.

“Snake…I don’t think you really do…I mean after all, you misunderstood Ocelot’s jealousy.” His eye widened…he did? Thoughts were racing through his head, trying to figure out how he had misunderstood his friend’s jealousy. Eva apparently knew what he was trying to do and continued.

“He wasn’t jealous at the fact that _I_ slept with you…” she paused and he was unable to say anything. “He was jealous that _you_ slept with me.” He screwed his face up in confusion.

“Isn’t that the same thing?” Snake asked and Eva sighed, shaking her head almost disappointedly.

“No. It isn’t.” Eva met Snake’s befuddled look with soft smile.

“I…don’t get it.” Eva laughed, staying silent for a few moments while she debated on what to say to hihm.

“Ocelot wasn’t jealous that I was with you…he was jealous that you were with me.” She tried again, but Snake still couldn’t figure out what the hell she was talking about…how was there any difference in what she was saying?

“That’s the same thing.” He frowned, his arms crossed across his chest and his eye narrowed at her as if she was trying to trick him.

“No.” She sighed deeply this time…knowing that only the truth would hopefully get through Snake’s dense skull…and she hoped that Ocelot wouldn’t mind if she told him. “Ocelot didn’t want me to have you.” She paused, taking in his expression, which was still confused before finishing, “Ocelot likes you.”

Snake blinked.

Eva huffed at him…she seemed almost annoyed at him.

“He…likes me?” Eva nodded at his question, smiling at his bewildered expression. “Like…as in he likes me like…like…how a man likes a woman?” Eva gave him a strange look…and Snake wondered what was going through her mind at that moment.

“Yeah…like that.” Snake shook his head, turning away from her slightly and Eva’s heart began to pound…what if she just ruined Ocelot’s and Snake’s relationship by telling Snake about Ocelot’s attraction? Maybe that was why Ocelot refused to tell Snake that he was into him…

“Snake…maybe I shouldn’t have told you this…it really wasn’t my place to tell you…” Snake returned his gaze to Eva and she shuffled on her feet in discomfort. He glanced down at the floor for a moment then looked back up at her, a smile on his face.

“No. It’s fine. I figured there was something up with Ocelot…I wouldn’t have been able to figure it out on my own.” Eva sighed in relief…he supposed that there really wasn’t anything wrong about the fact that another man was attracted to him...and if he was being honest…he would admit that Ocelot was attractive.

 “And…” Snake started and Eva focused her attention back on him, letting him know she was listening, “He wouldn’t have told me himself…too damn proud to I guess.” He smiled at her, his white teeth practically glowing through his beard.

She laughed, nodding in what he assumed was agreement. “Yeah…though I suppose I wouldn’t blame him…” Snake cocked an eyebrow at her in questioning so she explained. “It’s not quite something that many people are comfortable with…admitting that they are homosexual that is…” Snake’s face showed his understanding and he went quiet for a few moments.

“So…can I really join you next time?” He looked at her inquisitively and she giggled, nodding her head at him.

“Of course. Perhaps we could surprise Ocelot or something.” Eva beamed at him at the idea, which he seemed to like, seriously thinking about it.  

“How do you suggest we do that?” Eva hummed, trying to figure something out before smiling widely at him.

“Alright, I know what we could do.” Leaning closer to him, Eva told him what they needed to do in order to catch Ocelot off guard and he smiled, feeling rather sneaky.

Looking at Eva’s grin, Snake couldn’t help but be excited for this…though it would definitely be different than anything he had done before.

Now, all they had to do was to wait for the right moment.

 


	9. Lesser of Two Evils

Eva sat at the counter island, watching as Snake moved around the kitchen having taken over making breakfast seeing as Ocelot was nowhere to be found…which was starting to become a rather common occurrence.

“The salt is in the other container.” Eva broke the silence as Snake picked up the sugar container, ready to sprinkle sugar over the eggs. He grunted, placing the sugar down and picked up the salt, lightly seasoning the eggs like Eva had requested he do…otherwise the eggs would have been plain.

“I hope Ocelot gets back before nine tonight…” Snake sighed, turning his good eye to look at her, a frown plastered on his face. Nodding in agreement, she really did hope Ocelot wouldn’t change his normal schedule on them. He usually returned sometime around the afternoon, more often than not he was back before one in the afternoon…but she wouldn’t put it past him to change that on them on the one day that it actually mattered when he returned.

“Hopefully he does…” Eva eyed the plate of scrambled eggs that Snake placed in front of her with caution. “You sure seem eager for this.” Looking back up to Snake to try to ignore the eggs for the moment, Eva smiled at him.

Snake grumbled, obviously not too comfortable about talking about the subject…then again she remembered back during Operation Snake Eater when she tried to make a move on him and he wasn’t too eager to take her up on the offers.

Chuckling slightly as she picked up her fork, Eva speared some of the eggs with her fork and popped it into her mouth, instantly spitting them out. Snake stared at her in what looked like hurt…but Eva couldn’t find herself caring much in that moment.

“Lightly salted doesn’t mean the whole container of salt Snake.” She frowned at him, an expression he returned.

“I didn’t. I only put a little.” Snake just about pouted at her and she sighed. She knew that she wasn’t going to get anywhere with him.

Shoving her plate towards him, she stood up. “Go ahead and eat mine too. I’d rather not die of salt poisoning.” Spinning on her heel and walking through the kitchen door to meet up with Para-medic like she did every other morning, she chuckled at Snake’s unamused grunt at her.

 

^^^

 

Snake frowned down at his plate and Eva’s plate. Taking a bite, he didn’t understand what Eva was talking about. Shrugging, he started eating both plates of eggs figuring that it just meant there was more for him.

Placing the plates into the sink, Snake sighed…Ocelot had been leaving most mornings which meant that they couldn’t spar as often.

Snake found himself missing the Russian and wishing that whatever he was doing every morning would spontaneously combust so that Ocelot wouldn’t leave.

Snorting in amusement at his own childish thought, Snake headed for the gym, planning on getting a little exercise…though it was never as fun without Ocelot.

After his brief workout, Snake returned to his quarters to take a quick shower and change his clothes before heading to Zero’s office to talk to the man.

Rapping his knuckles on the door twice before opening the door and walking in, Snake paused when he saw that Zero hadn’t been alone.

Zero and Ocelot stared at him for a few moments that seemed to drag on.

“Snake…may I help you with something?” Zero asked and Snake got a gut feeling that he was hiding something from him.

Narrowing his eye at his commander in order to let him know that he knew that something was up, he shook his head minutely. “Not really. I just wanted to know if there was anything that was needed to be done today.” He actually didn’t know why he had come here…but he didn’t want to look strange.

Zero seemed to relax slightly at that and shook his head. “No, go ahead and take a day off.” Zero smiled at him and Snake shifted on his feet, instead looking at Ocelot, who refused to look at him and that confused Snake even more.

Usually, Ocelot would stare at Snake whenever they were in the same room…thinking about it, Snake wondered how the hell he had never understood Ocelot’s attraction for him, he wasn’t very discreet about showing his emotions towards him.

Snake stared at the blond man for a while longer, hoping that he would at least look at him and acknowledge the fact that he was here…but it soon became obvious that he wasn’t going to, so Snake turned around and left, deciding that he needed to talk to Eva.

Heading further into the building into areas that he rarely ventured, he searched for the other blonde in his life…perhaps she could tell him what was up with Ocelot.

 

^^^

 

Zero sighed and settled back into his chair, his eyes meeting Ocelot’s for the first time since Snake had barged into their conversation.

“That was almost too close.” The white haired man said and Ocelot could already feel the stirrings of guilt deep in his chest…and nothing had actually been done yet. He remained silent, figuring Zero’s statement didn’t need a response.

“Thanks to the money we have from the Philosopher’s legacy…” Ocelot frowned when Zero continued their previous train of conversation, but he didn’t seem to notice, “…the project should be able to succeed…we’ll just need a DNA sample from Snake.” Ocelot stared back into Zero’s eyes as the older man watched him intently, silently asking him to get him what he wanted.

Ocelot didn’t jump the gun though, he wasn’t going to put the idea out there first and, if he was being honest, he didn’t want Zero to ask him to do it. That would mean betraying Snake…betraying John…his idol.

Now, Ocelot was a professional when it came to betraying people…but the thought of betraying Snake was too much for him.

Hell, he couldn’t even meet his eye earlier and he hadn’t done anything but listen to Zero talk to him about betraying John’s trust.

“Will you do it?” _Goddamn it…there it was…out in the open…_ Ocelot sighed audibly, casting his eyes to the window behind Zero.

“…I…I don’t know.” Normally, he would’ve agreed within a heartbeat…had it been anyone other than the one single person in the entire world that Zero was asking him to betray.

“You…don’t know?” Zero repeated, his face betraying his confusion. “When I approached you before we had created the Patriots…you were intrigued by the idea of this project…the perfect soldier project…” Ocelot sighed at that…it was true.

“Yes…but…things have changed.” He tried to explain…but it sounded weak to even his own ears.

“You don’t want to betray Jack…is that it?” Ocelot nearly flinched as Zero hit the problem instantly. “I see…” humming in thought for a moment, the elder man kept his unwavering gaze on the younger man.

“You are one of the best spies are you not?” Blinking at Zero, Ocelot’s mind whirred as he tried to figure out what exactly Zero was trying to get at.

“I suppose so…why?” he furrowed his eyebrows…he didn’t like it when he wasn’t quite sure what the situation was and where it may be going.

“He wouldn’t have to know it was you that took the DNA sample.” His eyes widened in shock…that seemed very dirty.

“I…” Zero’s sigh cut him off and Ocelot figured that he had already guessed what he was going to say by the tone of his voice.

“Just…think about it will you?” With that, Zero spun his chair around to look out the window, silently telling Ocelot that he was dismissed.

Standing and leaving the room, he was momentarily glad that he no longer had to worry about attempting to put his foot down in situations like this. There was no Volgin waiting for him to slip up and he knew that Zero didn’t want to chase him away from the organization…otherwise he wouldn’t have a contact in the USSR.

Returning to the other side of the building, his eyes met both Eva’s and Snake’s and Ocelot couldn’t help but feel dirty about conspiring with Zero.

Scowling at himself, he walked into his room…not sure if he wanted to approach Snake so soon after talking to Zero about the project.

 

^^^

 

Eva narrowed her eyebrows in irritation and confusion.

“What the hell was that about?” Looking over to the brunet man who just voiced her exact thoughts, she shook her head.

“I’m not sure…did you do anything to piss him off recently?” Eva questioned, her eyes never leaving his face. Snake wasn’t looking at her, but instead had his eye fixed on the door that Ocelot had disappeared behind.

“No…not that I can think of…” Snake’s eyebrows were furrowed as he tried to think if there was anything that he may have done to set the temper prone man off…but couldn’t think of anything at all.

Humming as a thought passed through her mind, she glanced at Snake, wondering if he would be willing to help her test a theory.

“Snake?” He looked her to her, his expression questioning. “Would you mind in helping me with testing something?” He cocked his head slightly at her.

“Testing what?” She smiled, blinking innocently at him.

“Testing to see if Ocelot is jealous.” Snake frowned at her.

“You already said he was jealous that I was with you.” She chuckled, shaking her head slightly.

“No…I want to see if he has any feelings for me at all…” Shifting on her seat, she tried to not make it seem like she was troubled by the fact that Ocelot may not even care for her a bit.

“Oh…okay…so how would I do that?” Eva thought for a few moments…she couldn’t have Snake try to make him jealous…since she wouldn’t know if the jealously was aimed towards her…or Snake.

“Perhaps we could ask Sigint for help?” Snake thought about it for a moment, then nodded.

“I’ll go find him.” With that, Snake left in search for the other man, returning after a short while with him behind him.

“So, Snake here told me that you needed help with something?” Sigint smiled at her and she smiled slightly back him, nodding in response. “What did ya need help with?” Sigint was standing a few feet away from her with Snake to his right.

Seeing Ocelot come out of his room to figure out why there was another person in their half of the building, Eva knew it was now or never.

Grabbing Sigint’s arm and pulling him towards her, she crushed their lips together, her eyes meeting Ocelot’s throughout the entire encounter.

Releasing Sigint, she maintained eye contact with the Russian, who she wanted to say looked slightly agitated with her display.

“Wow…well…that sure wasn’t what I was expecting when Snake said you needed help…need anything else?” She barely registered Sigint’s question, only responding a negative after she did, her gaze never leaving the other blond as he walked closer to the other three.

“Well…I better get going then.” With no more than that, Sigint left, feeling out of place.

Ocelot closed the distance between himself and Snake and Eva.

“Nice of you to join us.” Eva smiled brazenly at him, batting her eyelashes at him.

“What the hell was that?” Ocelot practically growled at her, motioning in the general direction that Sigint had disappeared.

“I don’t know what you are talking about.” Of course she did…but it was more fun if she pretended to not know.

“Yes you do. You just kissed Sigint while staring at me!” Realizing he was raising his voice, he snapped him mouth shut, his ever present glare aimed at her.

“No I didn’t.” Eva suppressed a smirk as she caught Snake in the corner of her eye watching them like one would watch a tennis match, head moving back and forth between the two players as the ball was hit from court to court.

“You know you did.” Ocelot was obviously not amused by her antics and apparently not in the mood for mind games as he huffed loudly, turning his back on her and starting to walk away from the both of them.

She had had her fun, but she knew that she still needed him to want to be around them later, so she dialed down her teasing. Following him, she tried to begin her and Snake’s plan for them later.

“Hey…so they have a movie on tonight and I figured…” Ramming into his back as he stopped suddenly and spun around to face her, Eva took a couple steps back to slightly distance herself from him…not that she necessarily wanted the distance.

“What? You figured that I’d join you two and listen to you making out?” Not able to help herself, Eva grinned…that sure sounded like he was jealous and it made her heart warm.

“No. Snake and I just thought that we could all use some unwinding…” Blinking as he spun back around and continued down the hallway, Eva looked over to Snake, who looked just as shocked as her. They hadn’t thought that he would decline the offer.

“I think I’ll pass. But you two go ahead and have fun.” Ocelot’s bitter voice drifted back towards them and Eva knew she had one last shot with him…and she prayed that it worked.

“It’s Django.” He paused and Eva squirmed in excitement. _I think I got him._

Turning his head to look back at them, he seemed to debate whether or not she was telling him the truth. She could hear him sigh and he turned around to face them completely.

“Fine…when is it on?” Beaming in success, Eva told him it was on at nine that night. She was relieved that their plan had started to work…they had been smart in choosing a night when the television programing was playing a spaghetti western…sure it was one that had come out about five years ago…but Ocelot didn’t seem to care much, so either he hadn’t watched it…or he wouldn’t mind watching it again.

Shooting a look over to Snake, Eva grinned at the other man as Ocelot continued to wherever he was headed off to.

“It worked.” Snake nodded, finally realizing that this was actually going to happen.

Snake looked at her, staying silent for a few moments and she hoped that he wasn’t having second thoughts about tonight.

“Hopefully he doesn’t change his mind later.” Snake said, a frown on his face. Giggling, Eva nodded.

“Yeah…I wouldn’t put it past him though…he can be rather unpredictable at times.

 

^^^

 

Snake felt strange.

It was a strange mixture of excitement and nervousness sprinkled with a pinch of guiltiness.

He was excited about what was going to happen that night, nervous because he had never done anything like this with another man…and he was guilty because he had suspicions on just whose son Ocelot actually was.

He didn’t want to dishonor The Boss’ memory by sleeping with her son…but there was another part of him that kept telling him that Ocelot…Adamska was his own man and could make his own life choices without his mother’s influence or approval.

That other part of him kept winning.

Snapping back to the present as Eva brushed past him, running her hand across his arm lightly.

Following her with his eye, he waited until he couldn’t see her anymore before heading to his room.

Snake glanced around his quarters, wondering if he should clean it a bit…after all…he wasn’t sure if the other two would end up coming in here. His eye kept returning to his dirty clothes pile in the corner and he figured he should at least do something about that. Picking up the clothes, he settled them under his arm as he exited his room, almost bumping into Ocelot as he did so.

“Sorry.” Snake smiled at him, turning away from him slightly as to hide what he was carrying.

“Finally decided to do your laundry?” Snake grumbled at that, shifting the clothes in his arms and dropping a sock in the process. Snake stared down at the sock and frowned…if he bent over to pick it up, he would most likely drop more…but…

His eye met Ocelot’s and Ocelot lifted an eyebrow at him.

“Absolutely not.” Spinning around, Ocelot stalked away from Snake, who turned his frown towards him instead of his sock. Sighing and bending over to pick up the sock, Snake grunted in annoyance when two more socks fell out, landing where the first sock had fallen. Picking those two up, he hurried to the laundry room, dropping his pile of clothes on the floor and staring at the washing machine.

He decided the laundry could wait.

Flicking the light off, he left the laundry room and headed towards the kitchen, his stomach telling him it was time for food.

 

^^^

 

Ocelot watched from a distance as Snake struggled with his clothes and chuckled as he grunted in annoyance at his dirty socks.

He knew they were planning something…

…the problem was _what_.

He knew they wouldn’t just plan some sort of movie night out of the blue for no reason. His mind was whirring with the possibilities of what they were up to.

Were they trying to get him to lower his guard?

But then, why would they need his guard lowered?

Unless they were planning on killing him.

Ocelot’s eyes widened in surprise at the thought, shaking his head to try to clear that train of thought from his mind. Why would they try to kill him?

_Because he didn’t agree to retrieve Snake’s DNA for Zero._

Breath hitching in his throat, he chuckled nervously. Zero wouldn’t have them kill him…besides…if Snake knew about the project then Zero wouldn’t need to take the DNA away from Snake using someone else as a proxy…unless Snake refused to participate in the project altogether…

…but then why would Snake try to kill him if he didn’t agree to help Zero…

_Because Zero told Snake that this project was all Ocelot’s idea._

Ocelot knew he needed to stop thinking about this or else he may start believing his ridiculous theories…and that could be dangerous.

Snapping his eyes up to watch as Snake exited the laundry room much too fast to have actually done anything in there, his eyes followed Snake’s form as he went into the kitchen.

_Maybe they weren’t planning anything and it is just as Eva said…a time to unwind…_

But then again…underestimating your enemies was a very deadly thing to do.

He’d get to the bottom of this _movie night_ and he would be prepared for anything those two threw his way.

 

 

Dinner time came and went and Ocelot hadn’t made any progress on figuring out what Snake and Eva were planning…and he only had less than an hour to do so.

He could just not show up…that would seriously lessen the threat of falling into their trap…

…but it was Django and even though he had watched it previously…it was a spaghetti western and would be more than happy to re-watch it for a fourth time.

_Damn…_

Pulling on his hair in annoyance, Ocelot frowned as he debated on what to do.

He could show up, fall into their trap, possibly get shot or killed…or he could skip the whole affair and miss the movie.

It was hard to figure out which was the lesser to two evils.

Eventually he decided he would go watch the movie, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to show up unarmed.

Slipping one of his revolvers into his holster, he concealed his gun by putting on a bigger shirt that covered both the gun and holster. Nodding once to himself to let himself know that he could do this and he wasn’t going to be afraid of whatever they had planned, Ocelot left his room, making his way to the common area where Eva was sitting on the couch.

Eva looked over to him as he walked in a smiled, scooting over and patting the middle cushion next to her.

Frowning slightly, he sat on the opposite side of Eva next to the arm of the couch vindictively…he wasn’t going down easily.

Snake walked in and saw him sitting not in the middle and grunted.

“Scoot over.” Cocking his head towards the middle of the couch, Snake watched him carefully.

“No. You can sit in the middle.” Snake sighed, setting down his armful of snacks that he apparently needed for the movie. Snake grabbed his legs and looped one of his fingers into his belt loops and pulled him towards Eva before sitting in his now vacated seat with a victorious grin.

Ocelot glared at Snake, crossing his arms across his chest and began to wonder if he should just leave right now, movie be damned.

As that thought ran through his head though, his mind chose for him as Django began playing and he grinned, his arms dropping to rest on his lap.

 

^^^

 

Eva relaxed as she noticed that Ocelot had been pulled into the movie almost instantly…she had been worried that he was going to leave.

Meeting Snake’s eye, she smiled mouthing _in a little_ to him, to which she received a nod.

Personally, she didn’t care for westerns, but instead she watched Ocelot. How he got emotionally connected with the characters and the plotline, how whenever the main cowboy said some cheesy line he grinned with an almost boyish innocence.

She made a note to watch more of these movies with him in the future…he was almost a different person while watching them she noticed…he wasn’t Ocelot the triple-crossing spy…he was just himself.

She doubted that anyone other than her and Snake had seen him like this…and she knew that they were going to be the only ones to see him like he would be in a little.

Smiling warmly, she shifted in her seat at the anticipation of sleeping with both the men she loved.

Slowly scooting closer to Ocelot, she pretended to be watching the movie so if he looked over at her as she moved, she didn’t look suspicious. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Snake mirroring her moves, slowly moving in on the Russian, who was entranced by the movie.

Eventually, her leg was pressed up against Ocelot’s and she noticed that Snake flanked Ocelot’s other side.

Eva leaned her upper body closer to Ocelot, pressing her shoulder against his and that was when Ocelot apparently had had enough.

Turning to look at her, his eyes narrowed questioningly at her, he frowned.

“What are you doing?” She answered him by leaning forward and pressing their lips together in a kiss, her eyes slipping shut as she did so.

 

^^^

 

Ocelot jerked his head back in shock, blinking at the blonde woman who had just kissed him…what was she doing?

He wouldn’t have had any problem with it (though he wouldn’t admit that out loud), if Snake hadn’t been in the room…or right next to him.

Slowly turning his head to look at Snake and see if he was watching the movie or, hopefully **not,** them.

Before he could turn his head all the way to look at the other man, his head was jerked forward and his mouth was attacked by Snake’s.

He froze in complete and utter shock…

…Snake was kissing him…

…and he wasn’t doing anything about it…

Finally being brought back to reality as Snake’s tongue brushed against his lips, he opened his mouth so that Snake could deepen the kiss and started kissing him back.

Snake’s hands cupped his face, pulling him closer and Ocelot let him do what he wanted, only grabbing a fistful of Snake’s shirt just to ground himself and let himself know that this was actually happening right now.

This was so unlike any other kiss he had experienced…Snake’s beard scratched his face, but he couldn’t find himself caring.

To top it all off, Eva had moved closer and started attacking his neck with her much softer lips and he nearly whimpered at the sheer sensations that he was experiencing.

Snake pulled back to look at him and Ocelot took that moment to try to fill his lungs with oxygen, which wasn’t as easy as it sounded. Smirking at him, Snake looked very proud of himself and Ocelot would have frowned if he wasn’t floating in joy.

“You still want to watch the movie?” Ocelot blinked in confusion, before remembering that they had been watching Django a while ago…how long had that kiss lasted?

“I…well…” Ocelot cleared his throat…not sure what to say, and casted his eyes downwards, away from Snake’s one remaining eye which was watching him very closely.

“Or would you rather join us in something else?” Eva asked him, her assault had ended after Snake broke off their kiss, and instead she had wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head against his shoulder blades.

“…something else?” Trying to turn his head to look at her, he could only see the top of her head before Snake grabbed his chin and brought his face to look at him. Ocelot met Snake’s eye and noticed that the man looked very smug.

“Yeah, something like…” Eva’s voice drifted off and he was about to question her when she moved one of the arms that was wrapped around his waist lower to rest over his crotch and rub softly against it. His breath hitched and Snake took that moment to smash their mouths together again and Ocelot couldn’t believe that this was all happening. It was just too much.

 

^^^

 

Snake shoved his tongue into Ocelot’s mouth and tried to pull him closer, but with Eva holding tightly onto him, Snake had a hard time moving the other man anywhere.

Pulling apart again, Snake observed Ocelot’s face and smirked. It really was special he thought…seeing Ocelot without his guard up and just letting Snake do whatever he wanted without trying to bite his fingers off or trying to one-up him like the man always seemed to do.

Standing up and stretching his hand out, offering it to Ocelot, he watched as the blond glanced at the offered hand and debated whether it was safe to take the hand and the offer of what was to follow if he did.

Ocelot’s gloved hand rested itself into his own palm and Snake pulled the other man to his feet and glanced at Eva, who stood to follow them.

With a bounce in her step, she lead the way to Snake’s room, spinning around to look at them as they followed her. She smiled lovingly and Snake realized that she did truly have feelings for Ocelot as well as himself…and if Snake was being honest, he loved both of them as well.

Kissing Ocelot’s temple lightly, the other man looked over to him, a coy smile on his face, yet Snake could tell he was nervous.

He was almost positive at this point that Ocelot was in fact The Boss’ son…he looked too much like her to not be.

Eva opened the door to his bedroom and the three of them entered the room, the door shutting behind them.

In the background, the television replayed a story that no one cared to watch any longer.

Snake smiled as he looked at the two other people and a thought ran through his mind.

_Adam, Eva and the Snake…all three of the ones in paradise together at last._

_Operation Eden: Mission successful._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I'd like to thank everyone that has stuck through the story to this point, hopefully its been worth the read. I...really don't know how much further I'm going to take Operation:Eden...I could do a few more chapters (I have about 2.5 chapters written out after this one, but the story kinda takes a different turn, so there isn't much more of Snake's ridiculous planning), Or I could end it after the next chapter. But anyways, big thanks to all of you lovely readers out there who have enjoyed the shenanigans of these three. :)


	10. Shedding of Personas

Casting his eye at his two companions, Snake smiled in anticipation. Ocelot and Eva were glancing around his room, and Snake was somewhat glad that he had decided to tidy up a bit earlier.

Snake closed the distance between him and Ocelot, tilting the other man’s head down to kiss him and for the first time, Snake realized that Ocelot was slightly taller than him. Ocelot opened his mouth to let Snake shove his tongue in, the younger man grabbing a fistful of Snake’s shirt to try to pull him closer.

After a few minutes of them battling with their tongues, Eva grunted at them, making Snake break the kiss to look at her questioningly, his breathing starting to get heavy.

“Don’t hog him Snake.” Snake laughed at that, then wrapped his arms around Ocelot and crushed the other man’s frame to his chest. Ocelot let out a quiet chuckle, nuzzling his head against Snake’s neck and sighing contentedly.

“Then come and take him away from me.” Eva chuckled, shaking her head and rolling her eyes at him. Closing the small distance between herself and the two men, Eva wrapped her arms around both of them…well, as far as she could get her arms around the two.

“How about we share?” Eva proposed and Snake thought about it before smiling wickedly.

“Nope.” Twisting around to trap himself between both Ocelot and Eva, so that Eva only had her arms around him, Snake chuckled. Eva huffed, smacking his back playfully before placing a gentle kiss where she had hit him in apology.

Laughing, Snake released Ocelot, who hadn’t said anything the whole time, but he had a smile on his face. Leaning down to untie his boots and take both them and his socks off, Snake straightened his back only to see Eva kissing Ocelot, her blue eyes meeting his eye in what he assumed was vengeance.

Pressing her hand into the back of Ocelot’s head to crush their mouths together, Eva wrapped her other hand around Ocelot, placing it on his lower back to pull him closer to her.

Walking over to them, Snake pulled Eva away and pointed down to her shoes.

“You need to take those off.” Eva rolled her eyes at him and slipped her boots off, kicking them off to the side, sliding over to Snake and wrapping her arms around his neck.

Whispering into his ear so that Ocelot wouldn’t hear them Eva pretended to be kissing his neck.

“Ocelot is a virgin…I think he is a bit nervous about doing this…” Snake blinked in surprise, but didn’t say anything less the other man hear him. He had noticed that Ocelot had seemed nervous before, but he didn’t know why.

In the time that they had been talking, Ocelot had removed his cowboy boots and was sitting on Snake’s bed, his blue eyes watching them intently.

Snake sat down next to Ocelot and rubbed his shoulder before pulling his flush against him.

“Do you mind if I call you Adam…I mean…it might be a little strange calling you Ocelot…” Ocelot chuckled and nodded against his shoulder.

“Yeah, I don’t mind Adam…” Adam pulled back to look at Snake, “As long as I get to call you John.” John chuckled, pressing a kiss to Adam’s neck.

“John and Adam then…” Eva sat next to Adam, her hand resting on his upper thigh.

“Yep, so…what do we call you then?” John asked Eva, who smiled at him, a giggle working its way out.

“Just Eva is fine.” Both John and Adam blinked at her in confusion. “That’s…actually my name.” Eva explained…though both men weren’t sure if she was pulling their legs or if she was telling the truth…but they didn’t want to talk names any longer.

John pulled Adam further onto the bed, pushing the blond onto his back and kissing him again. Eva slid next to them, switching between lathering John and Adam with attention as the two men made out.

Soon, Adam and John broke apart, turning their attention to Eva. Adam shot his arm out, grabbing Eva’s waist and pulling her down on top of him, her back against his chest.

John’s mouth met Eva’s for the first time in a long time and Adam peppered Eva’s neck with small kisses. Eva felt smothered laying between the two men, and, even though she was the one out of the three of them with the most sexual experience, she could say that she had never experienced anything like this.

She felt loved.

Breaking the kiss with John, she flipped over to face Adam, her hips resting against his. Adam’s gloved hand pressed on her cheek and pulled her face down to his. John, his body pressed against her back, switched to placing kisses on her neck.

John and Adam really were different. Being so close to them, Eva was able to pinpoint all the differences between the two.

Adam was lithe while John was stockier. John never seemed to shave while Adam either didn’t grow facial hair or he shaved, preferring to keep his face smooth. John was tanned gorgeously with dark hair and Adam was pale in complexion. Even though they were different in many ways, Eva found both of them charming and attractive and she wouldn’t change anything about them.

John sat up, pulling her off of Adam, much to her irritation. Shooting a half-hearted glare at John, she silently asked him what he was doing.

John reached out and grabbed Adam’s pants, yanking on them, but only succeeded in dragging the other man further down the bed, closer to him.

“What was that for!?” Adam narrowed his eyes at John, who chuckled apologetically.

“Just trying to get your pants off.” Adam rolled his eyes, stepping off the bed to undo his belt, which still had his revolver tucked away safely…though Adam didn’t think that he was going to need it tonight.

Stepping out of his pants, he turned back to face the other two. John grabbed him by his shirt and dragged him onto his lap, one hand drifting underneath his shirt and the other pressed against his lower back.

Adam could feel John’s growing erection pressed against his ass, and he blushed, squirming against John, who groaned at the unintentional stimulation.

John pushed Adam’s shirt over his head, leaving the Russian in only his boxers, gloves and scarf.

This time, Adam initiated the kiss between them as he fumbled with John’s belt. When Adam finally got the belt undone, John lifted his hips up to help Adam take his pants off, which joined Adam’s pants on the floor. John’s shirt soon joined the growing pile of clothes on the ground.

Eva apparently hadn’t wanted to wait for one of them to take her clothes off, since when they looked over at her as she rejoined them on the bed, she was only clad in her bra and panties.

John flipped him and Adam around so that Adam was on his back with John hovering over him while Eva resumed her position next to Adam, her hand resting on Adam’s lower belly, her hand drifting ever so lower.

John sat back on his knees, watching as Eva slid her hand underneath the waistband of Adam’s boxers and wrapped around his length. Smiling at the pleasured face Adam made at that movement, John wondered how much of his pride Adam would shove to the side for the night.

Lifting Adam’s hips to take off his boxers, Adam hissed as the colder air enveloped him completely.

Throwing his head back to try to regain any composure, Adam tried to control his breathing, which was starting to become uncontrollable.

Eva’s fingers were smooth and thin, so Adam jolted in surprise as suddenly the fingers touching him were thick and calloused, his eyes snapping up to meet John’s eye. The brunet man had a smug grin and Adam wanted to wipe it off his handsome face.

Reaching out to yank John’s underwear down so that he could wrap his own hand around John’s cock, Adam grinned a very cat-like grin when he heard John groan loudly.

“Damn it…that’s cold.” John met his gaze, the tables having flipped. “You’re still wearing your gloves.”

Adam had forgotten that he hadn’t taken his gloves off, but the leathery sensation seemed to have surprised John, so Adam figured there was no harm done.

“And you are still wearing your underwear.” Adam shot back after a few moments, his grin still present on his face. John grunted before ridding himself of his underwear, the article of clothing joining the pile of the floor that was only missing Eva’s own underwear set.

“Well, so is Eva.” They both turned their attention to the woman who blinked back at them, seemingly surprised at being remembered…though she honestly didn’t mind too much. It really was hot watching the two men she loves getting it on.

“We’ll have to fix that now won’t we John?” Adam released John’s cock, instead tugging her over to join them.

“Yeah, we will.” John grabbed her panties and pulled them off her hips, letting them join the pile on the floor before placing a kiss on her inner thigh, making her eyes flutter shut.

Adam fumbled with the clasp of her bra, placing kisses on her neck and shoulder before becoming extremely frustrated.

“How the hell do you work this thing?” Adam growled, letting go of the offending garment to glare at the thing, earning a laugh from both of the other two. Eva reached up behind her and undid the clasp with practiced hands, letting it slip off her shoulders and onto the floor, joining the pile with Adam’s scarf and gloves following shortly afterwards.

There was nothing between them now, and for once, they all were able to forget the stresses of their lines of work.

Eva leaned forward, capturing Adam with a kiss. She could tell this was a bit overwhelming for the guy…and she didn’t blame him. Not everyone loses their virginity in a threesome…hell…most people don’t participate in a threesome.

Pulling Adam on top of her, she continued kissing him, her heart fluttering as she finally got him unguarded and willing to sleep with her.

Lifting her hips to grind against his erection, he grunted into their kiss. Eva pulled back to look him in the eyes and she figured that he could see the raw emotion in her gaze.

“Ready for this cowboy?” he rolled his eyes at that, and the fondness for him bubbled up in her chest and she couldn’t help but silently thank John for stopping her when she was going to shoot Adam back in ’64 at Rassvet…she doesn’t know what she would do without him and John.

Wrapping her legs around his hips, she pulled him closer to her, trying to hint at what she was getting at.

John was kneeling over them, his legs straddling Eva’s hips, watching them as Adam pushed into Eva slowly, earning a deep moan.

Eva threw her head back as she finally felt Adam’s cock inside of her, filling her.

He paused when he had pushed all the way inside her, though she wasn’t sure if he paused in order to make sure she was okay, or if it was because he was trying to get used to the new sensations.

He gave a few experimental thrusts and Eva moaned, letting him know that it felt good, but John stopped them by grabbing Adam’s hips.

John met Eva’s eyes, giving her a questioning look. Smiling at him, she motioned to the bottle that she had had the foresight of bringing in with her.

He grabbed the bottle, snapping the lid off and squirted some into his hand. Eva reached around Adam and patted his ass, letting John know what he was supposed to do with the lubricant.

Thankfully, John had understood and rubbed some of the lubricant onto Adam’s entrance before slowly pushing one finger in. Adam hissed and tensed up at the intrusion. Running her hands down his sides, she tried to urge him to relax, whispering _it’s okay_ into his ear as she did so. Slowly he did as the feeling wasn’t so foreign and painful but as John added another finger, he groaned.

John waited until Adam had relaxed again before pulling his fingers out, feeling that he was ready. Pouring more of the lube onto his own cock, John prepared himself before positioning himself at Adam’s entrance.

Grabbing Adam’s shoulder with one hand and his thigh with the other hand, John pushed his way into Adam, who tensed up significantly, trying to get used to the much larger intrusion.

John moved slowly, not wanting to hurt Adam, yet he wanted to be in him all the way. When he finally hilted his cock all the way all three of them groaned.

Pulling out a bit, John thrust back into Adam, who by proxy, rocked into Eva.

Soon John had set a rhythm, thrusting into Adam and his thrusts resonated through to Eva.

Adam wasn’t able to do much himself, instead just let John control the situation…besides he wasn’t sure if his brain would be able to figure out what to do anyways as it was on an overload.

John’s cock in him hurt like hell and Adam tried to hide any sign of pain, not wanting John to stop. Eva reached her hand up and wiped a stray tear that had slipped past his guard…his ass stung like hell, but he wasn’t going to complain…he trusted both John and Eva.

After a while though, the pain melted into pleasure as his body adjusted to the large intrusion. Moaning, Adam dropped his head to rest against Eva’s shoulder, who wrapped her arms around his neck, crushing him to her.

John’s fingers dug into Adam’s hips, helping him to thrust deep into the blond…though he was sure that, come morning, Adam was going to have some dark bruises where he grabbed him. Even though he hadn’t ever really thought about having a relationship, not to mention sex, with a man before, John found himself wondering why he hadn’t before. Being inside Adam felt wonderful, and the noises the other man were making made John harder than he thought possible. To top it all off, Eva was also making lewd noises, very obviously enjoying herself.

He wondered if they would consider doing this another time.

The thought of doing this again made John groan, his hips snapping forwards against Adam’s ass, earning another moan from the man.

The room reeked of sex and John thought that if anyone had decided to walk by, there would be absolutely no doubt what was occurring in here.

 

Eva knew she was close.

Everything was just too much for her and, instead of trying to prolong how long she could hold back her inevitable orgasm, she just let it happen.

Arching her back off the bed, her chest pressing into Adam while releasing a very pleasured sound into Adam’s neck as she held him tightly, Eva huffed with the exertion of everything.

Flopping back down on the bed tiredly, she kept her arms around the blond man’s neck, not wanting to ever let him go now.

She felt Adam tense and she let out a moan as she felt his hot seed spurt into her as he reached his own orgasm.

Adam’s orgasm must have coaxed John to his own high as he heard him let out a deep guttural groan and the rocking of the bed slowed to a halt, the only sounds now being their breathing as they attempted to regain control of their breathing.

 

John pulled out of Adam, flopping down on the bed, pulling Adam with him. Chuckling, John gained both the other’s attention, two sets of blue eyes turning to look at him.

“That was…intense.” John waved his hand in the air, not able to come up with a better explanation for what they just experienced.

“Yeah, it really was.” Eva replied breathlessly, her eyes following Adam’s hand as he reached up to her head and brushed a lock of hair out of her face.

John rolled over onto his side to face the other two, his face betraying his satiated state. Running his hand down Adam’s side, enjoying the way that the other man shivered in pleasure at his touch, John scooted forwards so that he could wrap his arm around the other man.

Eva mirrored John this time, wrapping her arm around Adam’s waist and nuzzling her face into his neck, inhaling his scent.

Adam grunted, looking at Eva first, who was tucked into his side snuggly obviously enjoying where she was, then to John who kissed him gently as he turned his head to look at him.

Wrapping his arm around Eva to hold her close and rub her back gently, enjoying the softness and smoothness of her skin. Adam rested his head against John’s chest and listened to his heartbeat, which lolled him into a drowsy state, but he didn’t want to fall asleep, lest he wake up and find out this had been all a dream.

John’s calloused fingers rubbed his cheek, before being replaced by a soft kiss on his forehead.

“Get some sleep.” Nodding his assent, Adam didn’t think he would be able to stay up much longer anyways. Letting his eyes drift shut, he listened to the beating of John’s heart, falling asleep for the first time in his life feeling like this was where he was supposed to be.

 

John watched as both Adam and Eva drifted off to sleep and smiled contentedly, letting his own eye shut.

John’s last thought before slipping into an unconscious state was _“And to think, if I hadn’t mistaken Adam’s attraction for me for an attraction to Eva…we may not have ended up in this position”_

Falling asleep with a smile on his face, John slept undisturbed, feeling happy with where he was at that moment and hoping that this wasn’t going to be the only time that he was going to have these two this close to him.

 

 

 

 

^^^^^^^^^

 

 

Waking up from a deep sleep was always the worst.

Waking up from a deep sleep while sore was even worse.

Shifting as much as he could, Adam grunted as he realized that he couldn’t move anywhere. Opening one of his eyes to figure out why he couldn’t move, he practically jolted as he saw both John and Eva pressed against him. Both eyes open now, he smiled as he remembered the night before, and that it hadn’t been just a dream.

Wondering how he hadn’t instantly felt them pressed into his sides, he shook his head slightly amazed that his body apparently didn’t see either of them as a threat to his well-being…though he figured that his body was right.

He knew that he couldn’t get up without waking either of the other two, so he just laid there, enjoying their warmth.

His mind started running without anything better to do. He thought of Zero’s proposition from the day before and Adam already knew what his answer was going to be. There wasn’t any way in hell that Zero was going to have him betray John, not now not ever. In fact, Adam thought, he would try his hardest to stop Zero from continuing this project of his if it leads to that…but…

Adam turned his head to look at John’s sleeping face and smiled at how peaceful he looked.

Frowning as his mind went back to Zero’s plan…he thought he understood where Zero was coming from. John was practically worship worthy…Adam sure did…and ensuring that John’s legacy gets carried on…well…

…was that what Zero was trying to do?

Adam blinked as the idea ran through his head…was Zero just making sure that John’s bloodline didn’t die out with him?

That…was different he supposed. He knew that John couldn’t have kids, being sterile…

Quirking his lip in amusement as he thought _He couldn’t have kids by coming into me either._

Sobering himself, he frowned again, torn once again on what he should do.

He didn’t know how long he had just laid there until John’s voice startled him out of his thoughts.

“Hope that frown doesn’t have anything to do about last night.” John’s words startled him, making him shake his head.

“No…not at all. Last night was incredible…my brain just has a way of taking off down paths I would rather it didn’t.” John chuckled at that, understanding him completely.

Stretching his neck forwards to press a kiss on his lips, John kissed him for a few moments before pulling back to look at him.

“Should we wake Eva?” John let his eye wander over to their female, who was still fast asleep.

“I don’t know.” Adam looked at her two, a smile working its way to his face at the sight of her. “I can’t get up without waking her though…she’s trapped my arm underneath her.

His arm was still wrapped around her shoulders from the night before, and she had only melted into his embrace even more throughout the night.

 

^^^

 

Eva woke up to the sounds of John and Adam whispering, apparently trying hard not to wake her up.

Stretching her legs out, she let out a pleased hum, alerting the two males that she was awake. She was met by three strikingly blue eyes and she felt at home.

Sitting up to pop her back, she sighed in relief as the pressure released. She heard an even louder pop and she turned her head to look over at Adam and John.

Adam started to laugh and John grunted in annoyance, shoving the blond, almost knocking him into her.

“Geez old man, gonna be able to get out of bed without a walker?” Adam’s eyes were alight with amusement and, even though the barb was sent towards John, John looked almost equally amused, his eyes rolling fondly at the youngest of the trio.

“Just watch, I’ll still have my brown hair, but yours will be all grey, then we will see who’ll have the last laugh.” John shot back, earning an unbelieving snort from Adam.

“That’ll be the day.” Muttered under his breath, Adam laughed as John tackled him to the bed, poking the younger man in the ribs, trying to tickle him. John looked up at Eva, a grin splitting his face.

“You going to help me?” Eva laughed, shaking her head at him.

“No, I’ll pass this time. I don’t want to be on his shit list today.” All three of them laughed at that, John finally releasing Adam who tried to pout at John, but couldn’t as a smile broke out across his face.

The three of them got out of bed and started searching for the clothes that had been strewed carelessly across the floor.

Eva, with all of her clothes in her grasp, turned towards the men, a wicked grin on her face.

“Do you suppose we could make it to the shower like this?” vaguely motioning to her naked body to emphasize her point, she giggled when the two males glanced at each other before looking back at her.

“The shower isn’t that big you know.” Adam cocked an eyebrow at her like she may be partially insane.

Shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly, she responded, “And like that bed was big. We all fit in the bed last night. Besides, showering together would save water.” Adam apparently didn’t know how to respond to that, since she was obviously right.

John chuckled, his eye showing his amusement, “Well, if we couldn’t sneak to the shower like this, then what kind of spies would we be?” Eva laughed, turning to Adam who looked to be in thought.

“Well, that isn’t really fair.” They both looked at Adam at that, curious as to what he was talking about. Looking at John first he continued, “You sneak through the shadows and no one really notices that you are there.” Now, turning to Eva, “And you stay as far in the background that you can, so you don’t get noticed.” He looked at both of them, his face deadpan. “I’ve been trained to steal the spotlight so that no one suspects that I’m a spy…after all, what kind of spy makes sure that everyone knows that they are there?” Both John and Eva burst into laughter at the mental image that was brought up.

There you have John, hiding in the shadows in the nude, no one sees him walk past them to the shower room. Eva tries to hide in a room until someone passes by and the way is clear until she can sneak past them into the shower room. Then you have Adam who marches straight down the hallway, capturing everyone’s attention, calling out to them to ensure that he has their attention then walks past them into the shower room like nothing happened and he wasn’t naked.

Their laughter eventually died out and after a few moments Eva looked back at Adam.

“So…you don’t think you could make it to the shower without being seen naked?” He snorted, shaking his head good-naturedly.

“That wasn’t what I meant. I’m sure that unless Para-Medic, Sigint, or Zero decides to break a yearlong streak of not showing up in this half of the building…we should be fine.” Eva beamed at that, he wasn’t being the asshole that he usually was. She felt like that was a major accomplishment.

“Good, then let’s go.” Spinning on her heel and walking out of the door, her male lovers following close behind her, Eva led the way to the bathroom.

John shut the door behind him while Eva started up the shower, turning it to the hottest setting and letting it heat up.

Turning around, Eva smiled at Adam, who was staring at her, apparently thinking about something.

“What’s on your mind?” Cocking her head at him and taking a few steps closer to him so that she could run her fingers down his chest, just to touch him and know that this is real right now.

“Just…thinking.” He watched as her fingers drifted lower, down his side and finally rested on his pelvis.

“About?” Eva pushed and John walked over to them, watching them closely.

“Just about when we were handcuffed to each other and you vehemently refused to shower with me…I had thought that you didn’t want to see me naked or something like that.” He shrugged his shoulders, shifting on his feet slightly.

She shook her head, closing the distance between them and resting her head on his shoulder. “No…I just didn’t think I’d be able to control myself if I did see you naked.” She paused, wondering how much she should tell him, then decided that if she wanted him to tell her about other things, then she should do the same. “I’ve wanted to fuck you for a while now.” He made an almost mystified noise at that, as if it were strange to be…wanted.

 

^^^

 

John frowned at Adam’s narrowed eyebrows, knowing that this was weird for him, having people let him know that they cared for him and it made John sad.

Reaching out and grabbing both of their arms to gain their attention, he nodded his head in the direction of the shower.

“We better get in before the water gets cold.” At that, the three of them stepped into the admittedly small shower, the hot water feeling wonderful on their sore muscles.

Standing under the running water, John felt at ease, the presence of the other two made him wonder if he would ever be able to live on his own again. Them being there just felt right, as if they were meant to be together.

He and Adam finished before Eva, stepping out of the shower onto the cold tiled floor to dry off.

Adam wrapped his towel around his waist after toweling off his short hair, jumping slightly when John walked up behind him and wrapped his arm around his waist as well, pressing a kiss to the younger man’s temple.

Adam leaned back into John, turning his head to rub his nose against his stubble. John hummed, pressing his cheek against Adam’s cheek, rubbing their faces together, chuckling at Adam’s grunt at the scratchiness of his beard.

Releasing Adam as Eva stepped out of the shower, John turned his head to look at her, but his attention was brought back to Adam as he ran his fingers through his hair once, before kissing him.

Adam stepped back from John, casting a glance at Eva before leaving the bathroom to dress for the day.

John followed Adam shortly afterwards, Eva a few steps behind him, breaking away from him to enter her room.

Once alone in his room, John grinned from ear to ear. Last night had been amazing, and realized he had forgotten to ask if they would consider having a repeat of last night…though he wondered if they would want to switch positions.

Imagining being full of Adam made John shiver and he knew he should stop his train of thought before he became hard.

Dressing in a more informal way for the day, John left his room, heading to the kitchen where Adam was already searching for something to make for breakfast.

Upon hearing him enter, Adam looked over to him, smiling widely at him.

“Anything you want for breakfast John?” John mulled it over for a few moments, his stomach making its decision.

“Pancakes and sausage.” At that moment, Eva walked in and upon hearing John’s request groaned, making both of them look at her in confusion.

“I don’t want to see John’s version of sausage again…besides, he only complained about them last time.” John frowned at that…he hadn’t complained…and he really wanted sausage now.

Adam chuckled, opening up their freezer and pulled out the frozen sausages that he had gotten a couple weeks back when he and Eva were handcuffed together. John, upon seeing the actual sausage lit up, his mouth already watering in anticipation.

Sitting down at the counter island, John and Eva watched as Adam moved around the kitchen, mixing up the ingredients for the pancakes while he let the sausage thaw for a bit.

“Do you need any help?” Eva asked, her eyes never leaving Adam as he moved from the fridge to the counter back to the fridge and back to the counter.

“No, I’ve got it.” John smiled fondly at his blondes…he felt like they were a big family and he really wouldn’t have it any other way.

Soon, the aroma of pancakes filled the air, making John’s stomach growl loudly.

Both Eva and Adam chuckled at the sound and John frowned slightly, but beamed as Adam placed a plate of pancakes in front of him and Eva.

John grabbed four, placing them on his plate and started to eat.

By the time the sausage was finished, all four pancakes were gone and he was more than ready for sausage.

Adam sat with them, finally allowing himself to eat.

John polished the sausage off himself, seeing as no one else had wanted any more than one link.

Standing and stretching, his rumbly tummy no more, John felt great.

After Adam cleaned all the dishes, practically growling at them when they offered to help, saying that he’s got it and doesn’t need help…then apologizing saying that he appreciates the offer, but he really does got it, they left their half of Patriots HQ.

Walking into the other half of the building, John knew that they would have to slip back into their other personas.

He would become Snake, Adam would become Ocelot…and Eva would stay EVA, but it somehow felt different, though John wasn’t sure why it was.

Ocelot glanced over at Para-medic, who waved at them, before turning back to the other two, smiling at them.

“Guess we’ll meet up later then.” Ocelot smirked at them, flicking his hand at them in his flippant hand gesture playfully, before turning around and strutting out of the room…to where, Snake wasn’t sure…but just like a cat leaves without letting its master know where it is going, he knew that Ocelot would be back in time.

Grinning at Ocelot’s retreating back, Snake turned to smile at Eva, who waved at him before going over to talk to Para-Medic.

Snake knew that this relationship between the three of them wouldn’t last forever…nothing could last forever…but he sure hoped that it lasted as long as it could.

 


	11. Part of This

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize about the lack of updates...I've been having a hard time figuring out where to go with the rest of this story so writing has been slow. I'm still working on the next few chapters, so I don't know when I'll get those ones done (hopefully soon though).

It had been an hour since he, Snake and Eva had parted ways and Ocelot was standing outside Zero’s office, fighting with himself.

Walking over to the door, he raised his hand to knock on the door…but paused…dropping his hand for probably the twentieth time in the past hour.

He knew that he shouldn’t even be considering what he was…

Opening his left hand and looking down at what he was holding, he felt sick at himself.

There were two brown hairs, taken from Snake’s head earlier that morning. He knew that the hairs had enough cells on them to please Zero, allowing him to start with his _Les Enfants Terribles_ project.

Shaking his head and curling his lip in disgust, he couldn’t believe that Zero would name the project that.

 The terrible children?

If they were John’s children, then there couldn’t be any way that they could have possibly been terrible…and the fact that the project’s name was in French made it even worse.

Taking a few step away from the door, thinking that he would just throw the hairs away. He didn’t want to be part of this stupid project…not at the price that Zero was suggesting anyways.

_…but then again…_

Ocelot turned back and looked at the door again.

_…John won’t know I was the one who supplied them with the cells…_

Sighing, he clenched his hand holding the hairs shut, furious that he was still thinking about walking into the office and handing over the hairs to Zero.

Spinning around on his heel, he made to march away from the door to rid himself of the hairs…

…turned right around back to the door and raised his hand to knock…but paused…dropping his hand again with a sigh.

Perhaps, he thought, he would just go in there and talk to Zero.

That wouldn’t hurt right?

Raising his hand again, this time he rapped his knuckles on the wood, and upon hearing Zero calling him in, opened the door, his eyes snapping to the other occupant in the room that he wasn’t expecting to be there.

Blinking at Para-Medic confusedly, he turned his attention to Zero, his face as dour as he felt.

“Ocelot, you have some impeccable timing if I do say so myself.” Raising his eyebrow at Zero’s comment, he felt like he shouldn’t have come here in the first place.

“Do I?” He assumed that Zero wanted him to question him about what he had said, so just to make things easier, he did what was wanted.

“Yes, indeed you do. Para-Medic and I were just talking about _Les Enfants Terribles,_ wondering how we were going to get the cells necessary from Snake.” Zero stared at him like he knew that Ocelot had exactly what they needed.

Had Ocelot not had all the training to not break under pressures and to be able to lie flawlessly, he would have certainly found himself in a sticky situation.

“Oh? Any ideas?” Of course, Ocelot knew exactly how Zero wanted it done…but…Ocelot’s mind drifted to the hairs that he still held in his hand.

“Well, I was still hoping that you would be willing to collect some from him for us.” Zero’s eyes never left Ocelot’s face, and even though he felt very uncomfortable, Ocelot didn’t show it. He hummed, tilting his head to the side slightly as if he was considering it.

“What kind of cells would be necessary?” Ocelot met Zero’s eyes fearlessly, not allowing himself to be backed into a corner by this man.

Zero’s attention turned towards Para-Medic, silently telling her to answer his question.

“Well…” the woman paused in thought, her eyes turning to look at Ocelot before continuing, “I think any type of cell would work. I suppose that sperm would probably be best, seeing as a sperm cell and an egg cell are needed to create a child…but I don’t see why any other kind of cell wouldn’t work as well.” Ocelot forced himself to give her an incredulous face, before shifting on his feet as if he were uncomfortable.

“Are you asking me to somehow get Snake to…” he paused, mostly for effect as to show that he wasn’t sure how to word his phrase to be less vulgar, “…jack off around me so I could collect some? Or search his bedsheets in hope that he has come on them?” He grimaced, playing his part before adding on one more suggestion. “Or do you suppose that I let him fuck me so that I can collect whatever he releases?”

Sure, there was a lady in the room, but he figured that if she was willing to defy all laws of nature by attempting to clone a human, a little vulgarity and a few rather uncomfortable insinuations wouldn’t bother her.

Para-Medic looked surprised, and Ocelot had to hide his amusement.

“No! No! That isn’t what I was suggesting…I mean…you probably could get a couple hairs off his head and those would be just fine. You two seem to enjoy tussling, so pulling a few hairs wouldn’t seem strange would it?” Para-Medic tried to appease what she thought was a repulsed man, but in actuality, it just made him more amused and somewhat nervous.

He had the hairs…all he needed to do was hand them over to the woman…and she’d be off for the races.

But his love of John held him back.

He couldn’t do it.

Taking a deep breath, he turned back to Zero, straightening his back determinedly.

“Look, Zero…I’m not going to be part of this…” he swung his arm out, motioning to both Zero and Para-Medic, “…this project. I know that once I was curious about it…but that was all it was. Curiosity. But now, I’m disgusted that you would even suggest stealing the man’s cells so that you can start a project that you haven’t even told him about…” Ocelot narrowed his eyes at Zero, who didn’t seem to have any reaction to anything he said.

“As they say, curiosity kills the cat…but this time, I’m not going to fall for my own curiosity. I apologize, and I understand if you don’t want me to be part of…” motioning to the building that was dubbed Patriots HQ, “…whatever the hell this even is…I will leave, no questions asked.” The silence that followed was heavy in the air, and it made Ocelot more uncomfortable than before. He was used to being yelled at, screamed at for talking like that…and yet, Zero said nothing.

“You done?” Blinking at the question that broke the silence, he nodded wordlessly.

“That’s fine. I understand where you are coming from…and I hadn’t really thought about it like that…” Zero paused and Ocelot stared at him, waiting for the dam to burst, but instead Zero continued his voice calm. “I’d like it if you stuck around. You really are one of the best spies I’ve met and I’d like for you to stay with us…though I understand if you want to leave…and you are welcome to, no questions asked.” Parroting his words back to him, Zero smiled softly at the younger man, making him drop his gaze minutely.

“I’ll stay.” Ocelot didn’t even think about his answer. Meeting Zero’s gaze again, he repeated his answer. “I’ll stay because this is where Snake is…” Zero looked amused, but didn’t say anything.

“That’s good. I’m glad.” Zero nodded at him, seemingly pleased with his answer.

Turning around, Ocelot walked out of Zero’s office.

Reaching his own quarters, he unclenched his hand that still held John’s hair. Staring at them for a few moments, he let them fall to the ground, lost on the carpet.

He knew that he did the right thing…question is…was Zero going to do the right thing?

 

^^^

 

Eva turned the doorknob, letting herself into Zero’s office, smiling disarmingly at the two occupants.

“Ah, Eva! I’m glad that you could come.” Zero smiled at her, and she suddenly felt nervous.

“You said that you needed to talk to me about something?” Walking closer to the man, she sat down on one of the chairs in front of his desk, casting a glance at the other woman who was seated more towards the side of the room.

“Indeed. In fact, it is about one of the main reasons I started the Patriots.” Eva’s eyes widened, she now knew that this was important, whatever it was. Nodding her head to let him know she was listening, he continued.

“You know about the incident that occurred in ’70?” Eva thought about it for a moment, trying to figure out what he was talking about.

“You mean the incident at San Hieronymo Peninsula?” Venturing a guess, she vaguely remembered hearing about the incident.

“Yes, that is the one.” Zero nodded before taking a drink of water from a glass on his desk. Eva was rather confused as to where Zero was trying to get from this. “I participated as a benefactor to a spy. He was to obtain the Philosopher’s legacy from the CIA…or at least the location of the legacy.” Nodding to let him know that she was in fact listening, he continued.

“He did as he was needed…but I didn’t quite want him to cut ties with me as he was planning to. I told him about my plans about the super soldier project. He was interested in it, and told me that he would join on one condition.” Zero paused, apparently looking for Eva to question him about the condition.

Nearly rolling her eyes at the theatrics that Zero was practically waiting for, Eva asked, “What was the condition?”

“That Snake was able to join. I agreed, and he remained in contact with me as a co-founder of the Patriots…but now, he has had a…change of heart.” Eva narrowed her eyes in confusion…what was he talking about?

“So, hang on a second…I assume you are talking about Ocelot, right?” She stared at Zero, who just watched her his expression unchanging.

“Right. He was curious about the project at first…but apparently has changed his mind in the past year and a half. He told me that he wouldn’t help me with it…and there really is only so much I can do alone.” Eva glanced at Para-Medic thinking that Zero wasn’t completely alone if she was helping him.

“And you want me to help I assume?” Looking back at Zero, she knew her question was rhetorical otherwise she wouldn’t be there right now.

“Yes, if you are willing.” She had no idea what she would be getting herself into if she blindly agreed, but Eva was willing to at least listen to what this project was.

Then she would decide whether or not she was willing to participate.

 

^^^

 

Snake knocked once before entering Zero’s office.

Zero was sitting at his desk like normal, his head moving up to look at his visitor. His office rarely changed in the year or so that he had been here.

“Ah Jack, to what do I owe this pleasure?” Snake stared at the other man for a moment.

“Just wanted to see if I had any missions coming up soon.” Zero smiled at him, lifting a folder that contained what Snake could assume was mission details.

“Unfortunately you do. It shouldn’t be hard for you though, you should be back within a day or so.” Snake withheld the urge to frown, lest he look childish. He wanted to stay here with Ocelot and Eva, but knew that he needed to do what Zero needed from him.

“When do I leave?” Looking straight at Zero, he hoped that his reluctance to leave wasn’t obvious.

“Tomorrow if you can. Faster you leave, the sooner you return.” Snake didn’t know why he needed to go out on these missions in all honesty. Sure, they reminded him that he was needed on the battlefield, but he had started to get the feeling that Zero’s overall plan for the Patriots wasn’t quite what Snake believed The Boss would have wanted.

“Okay then. I’ll leave tomorrow.” Grabbing the folder from Zero, Snake nodded at the man before turning around and leaving the man alone for the night.

Heading back to the other half of the building, Snake’s stomach rumbled, reminding him that he hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast that morning. As soon as the realization hit, he noticed how hungry he had actually been.

Stopping only to drop the folder with his mission details in his room, Snake made his way into the kitchen where both Ocelot and Eva were already.

They both were silent, apparently lost in their own thoughts and not willing to share them with the other person, even though Snake had thought they were close enough to not hide anything from one another.

“Everything alright?” Breaking the silence, his eye moved from one set of blue eyes to the other questioningly. The two blondes glanced at one another in the way that they always seemed to do, secretly sending each other messages through telepathic powers for all Snake knew. He nearly snorted at the thought, but stopped himself before he did.

“Yeah, why would anything be wrong?” Eva shifted in her seat to look at him better, her expression lightening immensely from when he came in.

Grunting noncommittally, Snake walked further into the kitchen, sitting on a barstool next to where Eva was seated.

He focused his attention on Ocelot now, who raised an eyebrow at him, a smirk on his face.

“What?” Snake frowned at him, he knew that Ocelot knew exactly what he wanted from him, but the younger man always seemed to love to toy with him.

Laughing slightly, Ocelot shook his head. “Nothing is wrong John. Just lost in my thoughts I suppose.” Adam smiled at him disarmingly and even though John wanted to believe him, he knew the guy well enough to know that even if there was something wrong, he wouldn’t tell him.

“If you say so.” Muttering under his breath, John was disappointed thinking that Adam may be lying to him. Apparently his disappointment leaked through his face since Adam walked around to stand behind him, wrapping his arms around John’s waist and resting his head on his shoulder.

“Seriously John, nothing is wrong. If there was something wrong I would tell you.” Adam’s breath tickled John’s ear and he huffed, leaning his head against Adam’s, enjoying his closeness.

“I know.” The other man may still have been lying, but unfortunately John wasn’t sure when he was and wasn’t lying. He decided to trust him this time, just because he didn’t want to piss the other man off.

Eva wrapped her arms around the two of them, resting her head on Adam’s shoulder and releasing a soft sigh.

“It was just a long day for me.” Eva supplied, and John hummed contently, closing his eye and just basking in the warmth of his two lovers.

“I nearly flipped out on Zero.” Both John and Eva laughed at Adam’s addition.

“Why is that?” John asked, moving his hands up to grab onto Adam’s hands which were rubbing lazy circles on John’s stomach.

“He asked me to do something that I wasn’t willing to do for him.” At that, John didn’t pry any further. He knew there was a boundary with Adam and his work, and John wasn’t willing to try and cross the line and push him away in the process.

“I have to leave on a mission tomorrow.” Leaning further into Adam’s embrace, John felt at home in his arms, his face still pressed against Adam’s.

“How long are you going to be gone?” Eva questioned, one of her hands rubbing his free shoulder gently.

“Zero said it should only be a day.” John grunted questioningly as Adam snorted.

“Yeah, just like how your last mission was supposed to last three days and you only returned nine days later?” All three of them shared a short moment of laughter at that, remembering when John had handcuffed Adam and Eva together and then left them like that.

“Hopefully it will only be a day.” Grumbling, John sniffed the air as he smelt something that smelled delicious.

“Why? Can’t stand being away from us?” Eva teased, pressing herself closer to them, her breasts smooshed against Adam’s side.

John chuckled, his eye dropping to the countertop. “I suppose so.”

Of course he did.

After Operation Snake Eater, John hadn’t been the same. He had killed his beloved mentor only because the mission required him to.

He returned to his home, attempting to give up the soldier’s life, but he had only succeeded in falling into a deep depression that he found nearly impossible to escape from. He was alone and feeling more lonely than he had ever felt before…and he had no idea where to go with his life. So he drowned his sorrows the best he could, which didn’t help him much.

Then in 1970, there was the San Hieronymo Incident.

He was flung back into being a soldier and he realized that this was where he belonged.

On the battlefield.

He ended up being contacted by Zero afterwards, asking him if he wanted to join a new unit that he was forming.

The Patriots as it had come to be called.

He wouldn’t lie and say he wasn’t surprised when he saw Ocelot again, this time though, as an ally.

Soon afterwards, he was sent to Hanoi to rescue Eva, who joined them as a new member.

Now he was surrounded by the ones who love him, and John couldn’t help but feel happy.

He just hoped the feeling lasted.

“You suppose so?” Stepping back from the two men, Eva rested her hands on her hips, trying to look offended.

Adam moved back too, unwrapping his arms from around John, who grunted at him. He suddenly missed his heat and the feeling of Adam pressed against his back.

“Alright, yes I can’t stand being away from you two. Happy?” Eva giggled at John’s almost deadpan response, sitting back on her own stool while Adam returned to the inner part of the kitchen to check on whatever dinner was.

“Yep.” Eva pushed a lock of her hair behind her ear, looking at both of her men lovingly. “I miss both of you when I’m gone.” Eva admitted quietly.

Although Adam didn’t say anything due to his pride, they both know he felt the same way about them.

John’s mouth started to water as Adam pulled something out of the oven, his stomach releasing another noise that he was sure at least Eva heard, though she was kind enough to not say anything about it.

Glancing at first Eva, then Adam, John cleared his throat earning both of their attention.

“So, what’s the chance of having a repeat of last night?” He said it nonchalantly, as if it really didn’t matter to him if there was a repeat, though he desperately wanted the closeness from the previous night.

Eva laughed, pausing slightly to thank Adam as he placed a plate with food on it in front of her. Adam remained silent, which John thought was strange.

“You want to have another threesome John?” Eva chuckled and John was almost scared that it had been a onetime offer and now they thought he was weird for inviting himself into their beds.

“Only if you two want to.” John refused to look at them, suddenly feeling like he overstepped his boundary with them.

“Well, I’d be more than happy to repeat last night. It was amazing.” Gaining a sort of dreamy look as she recalled last night’s events, Eva started to eat her dinner, leaving John to look at Adam inquisitively.

“If you want me there, I will be.” Adam told him, placing a plate in front of John, and even though his stomach had been yelling at him earlier, he ignored it for the time being.

“I do.” Adam smiled at him, then leaned over the counter to place a kiss on his forehead.

“Well, that settles it then. So, want to schedule it for tonight? Or would you rather wait until you return from your mission?” Joyfully, Eva’s eyes darted from one man to the other searching for an answer. John thought about it for a moment.

He was excited about having sex with them again and wanted to do it tonight…but then again, if they waited, he could look forward to returning from his mission and celebrate for a mission well done. But then again…

“Can’t I choose both?” That prompted both Eva and Adam to laugh and share another one of their glances that John still can’t understand.

“Greedy much?” Eva cocked an eyebrow at him, a smirk plastered on her face. John frowned, but then smiled widely.

“Yeah, I suppose so. Why? You don’t want to?” John shot back at her and her eyes widened momentarily.

“Hey, I didn’t say that I didn’t want to. I think that sounds good…I was just teasing.” Of course John knew that already, but he liked making her squirm sometimes. Looking over at Adam, he caught his amused stare, watching both of them.

“You up for it?” Adam snorted, no doubt thinking that John was crazy for asking.

“Of course I am. I already told you that if you want me to be there for you, I will be there…and that doesn’t stop at the bedroom door.” Adam stared at him seriously and John was touched. Here Adam was telling him that if he ever wanted him around, that he would be right there for him.

“I’ll remember that.” Grinning widely, John finally turned his attention to the plate of food in front of him, not really caring what it was called as long as it tasted decent, he would eat it.

 

^^^

 

After John polished the remainder of the food that Adam and Eva couldn’t eat themselves, Adam managed to clean the dishes before Eva grabbed his wrist and yanked him out of the kitchen.

John followed closely behind them, his boots barely making a sound on the hard floor.

Adam still had a hard time believing all of this was happening.

He had known about his attraction for John since they had met in Rassvet, though he never thought that he would even have a relationship with the man beyond a friendship.

Eva, on the other hand, he hadn’t trusted until recently and he certainly hadn’t thought that he would _ever_ be attracted to her…yet somehow she managed to squirm her way into his heart and he doubted that she would vacate that spot anytime soon.

Both of the relationships differ tremendously…but he loves both of them.

John understands the need for violence…or at least roughhousing, while Eva understands what it was like having to play the part that their ‘masters’ needed them to and she showed him a gentleness that he hadn’t even known was something that he craved…something that he hadn’t received as a child.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Adam grunted in surprise as Eva crushed her lips to his, cupping his face with her hands to draw him closer.

Closing his eyes, he opened his mouth to let her prodding tongue in. Moving one of her hands to the back of his neck and the other one to wrap around his waist, Eva pressed her body against his, grinding against his groin.

Eva pulled back first, a satisfied smile on her face.

“My, impatient aren’t we?” Eva said, chuckling, her eyebrows raising up and a knowing grin on her face. Adam was confused, thinking that she was talking to him at first, but when he turned around to look at John he laughed too.

“I do need to leave soon.” John grumbled, his clothes already on the floor. Sitting down on the bed with a huff, the oldest of the three watched both of them with his remaining eye lustfully.

“Well then, I guess we shouldn’t keep him waiting, right Adam?” Bright blue eyes met blue-grey eyes mischievously in what John would call one of their knowing glances, and Adam indeed know exactly what Eva was talking about and grinned.

“Of course not. After you darling.” Practically purring in response, Adam motioned for Eva to make the first move. John’s eye darted between them almost suspiciously, making Adam want to laugh, after all, there wasn’t anything that John should be worried about.

Eva sauntered over to where John was seated, nearly shoving her boobs into his face, which his eye not-so-secretly dropped down to look at. Adam stood by her side, his hand drifting up John’s thigh slowly, his eyes never leaving John’s face as he gauged his reaction.

Settling down next to John, Eva planted butterfly kisses on John’s skin, but Adam knew that the brunet’s attention was on his hand as he teased the area around the older man’s cock.

As Eva peppered kisses on John’s face, Adam dropped to his knees to rest between John’s legs, smirking up at the other man teasingly.

John’s breathing had increased and his eye never left Adam’s gaze, not even as the blond finally wrapped his still gloved hand around his cock and kissed the tip.

Eva chuckled as John’s breath hitched as Adam slid his tongue around the head of John’s cock. Adam felt pleased when John placed his hand on the top of his hand, his calloused fingers threading through his blond strands of hair that he had let grow longer than his previous military cut. Adam could feel the slight twitches in the other man’s fingers as he debated on whether he should pull him closer or move him away from his most intimate area.

Adam made the decision for him.

Removing his hand from around John’s cock, he quickly replaced his hand with his mouth, nearly taking the other man into his mouth in one go, making the other man buck his hips in surprise and pleasure.

“Shit Adam!” The fingers in his hair tightened their grip, though they didn’t push nor pull him away or closer. He would have chuckled, but his mouth was full and he was trying not to gag. Pulling away slightly, Adam glanced up at John as smugly as he could having the man’s cock in his mouth. He could hear Eva giggling from behind John, pausing in her ministrations to watch what he was doing.

Focusing on what he was doing, Adam switched between licking and sucking, trying to make John lose his composure…which he felt like he was doing a damn good job doing if the man’s cursing was anything to go by.

 

^^^

 

If John wasn’t hard before, Adam’s attentions had surely gotten him there.

Eva returned to kissing anywhere she could, though she kept an eye on Adam down below. There was something very arousing about watching a man give another man a blowjob, especially if they were two men she loves.

Eventually, John made a sound deep in his throat and finally used the hand on top of Adam’s head to pull the other man off his cock.

Eva watched as Adam wiped spit from around his mouth with a grin.

“What’s the matter John?” With a cat-like grin, Adam questioned John, who was trying to catch his breath.

“I…I’m…” John huffed, and Eva giggled, planting a kiss behind his ear.

“You’re close and you don’t want to come yet?” Said into his ear, John shivered, turning his eye towards her, and she knew that she was right.

“You two still have all your clothes on.” Grumbling and annoyed at situation he had found himself in, John nearly pouted at them, obviously trying to buy time to attempt to take himself down from the high that Adam had brought him up to.

“You going to do something about it then?” Eva questioned teasingly, sitting back to look at him more. John just flopped onto his back, resting his arm over his eye, practically leaving himself to their mercy.

Eva turned her gaze to Adam, who rolled his eyes fondly at the man on the bed, smiling at her afterwards. She honestly couldn’t imagine herself being anywhere else than right next to these two…though she wasn’t sure how long this thing with them would last.

She hoped she wouldn’t be the one to screw everything up...but deep in her heart, it already told her that she had.

Pushing that part of her away, she pulled her shirt over her head, discarding it onto the floor, where Adam’s clothes were already piling up.

Once they were both naked, they scooted up the bed and rested next to John, who lifted his arm to glance at them. Eva fluttered her eyelashes at him flirtingly, her finger running circles on his chest.

“So, you ready yet?” Pressing her lips to John’s, she didn’t let him answer until she was done tasting him. He answered by flipping her onto her back and rubbing his already nice and hard cock against her entrance.

“I am, but are you?” She answered by wrapping her legs around his waist and pulling him closer to her. Her eyes fluttered shut as he pushed into her slowly.

Releasing her breath as he hilted himself fully inside her, she reopened her eyes to look into his. Pulling his head down for a kiss, she moaned into his mouth as he shifted inside of her slightly. Both of them move their head to look at Adam, whose eyes shift from each of them questioningly.

Twisting her head to look to the side where John’s side table was, Eva reached over to grab the bottle of lubricant that had been left there the day before, tossing it over to Adam who caught it flawlessly.

As Adam prepared John, Eva rubbed John’s sides reassuringly, much like she had done with Adam since she knew that John hadn’t ever had sex with a man before. She really had to search for the signs of discomfort in John’s face, but having been so close to him before, she was able to pick out the minute changes in his facial expressions that showed that he was in slight pain. Once he was ready, and Adam brushed his fingertips against her leg to let her know that he was ready as well, she gripped John to her chest, kissing his neck.

He grunted into her hair, shifting forwards slightly as to move away from Adam’s intrusion…or at least make it a little more comfortable. Adam wrapped his arms around John’s waist in an attempt to keep him from sliding away from him, kissing his shoulder as he tried to ease his own cock into John’s tight ass.

It took a while for John to adjust to Adam being inside of him, but when he was ready, he bucked his hips back to let Adam know.

Bracing himself on John’s back, Adam snapped his hips forwards, rocking John forward into her, earning a moan from all three of them. His movements were almost jerky at first as he tried to figure out a rhythm, but he very quickly learned how to make them moan the most, and Eva just knew the cocky bastard was enjoying the control he had over them for the moment…though she really couldn’t complain since she was enjoying it herself.

John let out a cry and Adam froze in his movements.

“A…are you alright?” Adam questioned almost timidly and Eva was amazed to think that he was afraid that he may have hurt the man that he absolutely adored.

“Y…yeah.” John responded breathily, turning his head to look at Adam. “Whatever the hell you did felt amazing.” He finished and Adam laughed, snapping his hips forwards, his cock brushing against John’s prostrate, making him groan in response.

John was the first to come, having already been stimulated earlier. He came into Eva with a breathless groan. Adam and Eva followed shortly afterwards, urged over the edge by John’s climax.

The three of them disentangled their limbs from one another before lazing on the bed in the afterglow.

John lay in the middle, his arms wrapped around both Eva and Adam, drawing them as close to him as they could possibly get. Eva giggled as John’s beard tickled her face as he pressed a kiss to her temple.

Closing her eyes and listening to the sounds of John and Adam breathing peacefully, Eva started to drift off to sleep.

Before she fell asleep, she thought back to her meeting with Zero and Para-Medic, hoping that her decision would bring the three of them closer…

…and not break her, John and Adam apart.

She wouldn’t know what to do without them by her side.

 


	12. Come Back Safely

Opening her eyes as the bed shifted underneath her and the arm she was using as a pillow was pulled out from under her head, Eva looked at John as he stood up, getting off the bed.

“Where are you going?” Stifling a yawn, Eva sat up, not bothering to cover her naked body with the blanket to preserve any modesty…it wasn’t like they hadn’t seen her naked before.

“I’ve got to head out for my mission.” His response was gruff as if he didn’t want to get up and leave, but he knew that he had to. Humming to let him know she heard him, her eyes slipped shut again. She didn’t like waking up early, and it was much too early.

Feeling the bed shift again, she groaned, reaching out to grab Adam in an attempt to keep him there with her.

“Don’t go.” Without opening her eyes, she pulled on Adam’s arm, trying to pull him to her, to no avail though.

“I’ll be back.” Adam pressed a kiss to the top of her head and she released him, too tired to try and argue with him right now.

The two men left the room, leaving it too quiet in Eva’s opinion…she missed the sounds of their steady breathing beside her.

She could hear them moving around in the other parts of their half of the building, most likely they were in the kitchen.

Flipping over, Eva reopened her eyes and stared at the door, wishing that they would come back through the door and lay back down…but she knew that she was just being silly. Once they were up, they were up and they wouldn’t be lying back down anytime soon. Huffing, Eva sat back up, debating whether she should just get up now or try to fall back asleep.

After a moment, she stood, gathering her clothes up and redressing, deciding that she should at least wish John good luck on his mission.

Stepping through the door, she headed towards the kitchen. Sure enough, John was sitting at the table, eating something that Adam had made for him before he went on his mission.

“You’re up?” Almost incredulously, Adam turned his attention to her as she entered the kitchen. Rolling her eyes at him for show, she cocked her hip to the side and crossed her arms over her chest defiantly.

“You say that like I’m lazy.” Eva shot back, watching as his surprised expression morphed into one of cockiness that was normal for him.

“You aren’t?” Gasping in a fake offended way, she stuck her bottom lip out in a mock pout. She honestly missed their verbal sparring, as long as it was playful she enjoyed arguing with him.

“No, I’m not. Just because I don’t wake up at an ungodly hour doesn’t make me lazy.” Walking the distance to John, she rested her head on his shoulder, causing him to pause in his eating to look at her. “You don’ think I’m lazy…do you John?” Batting her eyelashes at him flirtingly, she nearly huffed at his rather dense stare.

“Uhh…no?” Stepping back, she frowned at him.

“Why did you phrase that as a question?” He blinked at her twice before quickly shoving the rest of his breakfast into his mouth…she wasn’t even sure if he chewed his food before he swallowed. Standing up and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, John headed out of the kitchen, Adam following in his footsteps.

Eva glared at Adam as he turned his head to look at her before he completely left the kitchen.

“I think he meant yes, even though he said no.” Grinning at her, Adam spun on his heel, leaving her in the kitchen alone.

Sighing fondly, she shook her head with a smile forming on her face. Heading out to follow her men, she stood next to Adam as John put on the rest of his gear.

“You will be careful, won’t you?” Adam questioned, though she thought that it sounded more like a demand.

“I always am.” John replied and was met with two skeptical faces. “What?”

“Really? Your time in Groznyj Grad says differently.” Reminding him of when the three of them met, John frowned.

“That was different. This time I won’t have two skilled spies after me.” John said, his frown remained as he finished buckling all the straps on his equipment.

“You don’t know that for sure though. You shouldn’t underestimate your enemies.” John snorted, though Eva knew that he knew that Adam was right.

“I won’t…I promise.” Finally turning his eye to look at them, John stepped closer to them, pulling both of them to him. “I’ll come back safely.” He sighed contentedly, his face resting on Adam’s shoulder and her head on John’s.

“You better.” Adam was obviously worried about John, though he didn’t want to outright say so. Not for the first time, Eva wondered what his life growing up was like…he really wasn’t able to express emotions like this very well.

After what felt like a much too short time, John stepped away, but not before pressing a kiss to both of their lips.

“You two get along while I’m gone…I don’t want to come back and see you two furious at each other.” Adam and Eva laughed, shaking their heads at the thought.

“We will as long as you come back safely John.” Eva teased seriously, her eyes staring him down. With a nod, John left the building, heading off to his mission.

They stood there watching him disappear, then remained standing there for a good while afterwards, each of them lost in their thoughts.

Adam turned to her a soft smile on his face and Eva reached out and grabbed his hand in hers.

“At least he didn’t handcuff us together before leaving.” Adam said, squeezing her hand slightly, to which she tightened her grip, being struck with the notion that he may be more worried about John’s well-being than he had let onto. The thought made her heart ache, thinking that perhaps, he was afraid of losing one of the only people who actually cared about him throughout his life.

“Oh come on, it wasn’t that bad.” Eva replied, rolling her eyes playfully and leaning on his shoulder. He huffed amusedly, raising one of his eyebrows at her skeptically.

“Really? From what I remember, _you_ made a big deal about having to use the restroom…and you refused to shower for nine days.” She frowned, knowing that he had a point. Deeming his rebuttal unworthy of a response that she wasn’t able to even procure, she pulled on his hand, leading him into the common area with the television. Sitting down on the couch and pulling him down to sit next to her, a thought ran through Eva’s head.

Thinking back to the previous day and her conversation with Zero, Eva wondered if she could confide in Adam about what the oldest member of the patriots had asked of her…and how she was considering it. She loved John, and the thought of carrying his children, ignoring the fact that they would be clones, was a very appealing idea. Turning her eyes to Adam, she withheld her sigh. She wasn’t sure that she should tell him about Zero’s project including her…Zero had told her about how Adam had turned against the project and wanted nothing to do about it…and how he said that he would try to put a stop to it if they moved ahead without telling John about it first. Eva knew that Zero had no plans on informing John about the project and had decided to keep Adam in the dark about it from here on out.

She wanted to tell him…she really did, but she knew that she shouldn’t lest he go after Zero about the project…and knowing Adam, Zero wouldn’t be alive much longer.

Adam planted a kiss on her temple, breaking her out of her thoughts. “You fall asleep?” He asked teasingly and she returned his kiss with one of her own, except on his mouth.

“No, just thinking.” Eva met his gaze with a smile. It really was amazing how close they had gotten in the past week.

“Anything in particular?” She wanted to tell him, she was so close to letting it out and lifting this heavy cloak of guilt from her shoulders…but she stilled her tongue.

 

^^^

 

He could tell that whatever she had been thinking about bothered her and that she was debating on telling him whatever it was…but she shook her head.

“Nothing much.” Extracting herself from his hold on her, she stood up, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear in a way that told him she was nervous. He could push her further, after all, he was learning the art of interrogation…but for some reason, she felt off limits to any of those tactics.

“Well, if you ever want to talk to someone…” He started, pushing himself off the couch to stand next to her, his hand cupping her cheek to make her look at him, “…You can always come and talk to me. I’ll be here for you.” Her eyes watered as she smiled widely, pressing her cheek into his palm, her hand reaching up to grab his hand. Bringing up his other hand, he grabbed the other side of her face, tilting her head up so that he could press his lips to hers. Pulling back to look at him, she blinked the partially formed tears away.

“Thank you Adam.” Whispered quietly, he had to strain his ears to hear her, but smiled when he did so. When she walked past him to head to the other half of the building, he followed her, wrapping his arm around her waist, only letting her go when they entered the common area in the main part of the building where Para-medic was waiting for Eva. With a grin, he flicked his wrist at her in his trademark style, turning around and leaving her to head over to the other woman.

Once he was alone, he paused, glancing back in the direction where he had left Eva curiously. He was stunned, wondering how she had managed to worm her way into his heart so quickly and so effectively. Never once had he thought that he and Eva would be as close as they are…he had thought that she had hated him...but she proved him wrong. This relationship that the three of them had was something else…sure, it had been a love-fest over at Groznyj Grad with Volgin and Raikov…but he hadn’t ever really heard of other threesomes. Shaking his head, he knocked on Zero’s office, letting himself in at the older man’s call.

“Oh, Ocelot. I…wasn’t expecting you.” Zero said, turning his chair to face him fully, his attention on Ocelot.

“I wouldn’t have expected you to.” Ocelot replied curtly, his blue eyes focused on Zero, searching the other man for any signs of nervousness, meaning that he was hiding something.

“What can I do for you?” The older man shifted in his chair, some would call it getting comfortable, but Ocelot saw it as it was…he was fidgeting.

“Just wanted to check in on you sir. I hadn’t had the chance to talk to you in a while…am I interrupting something?” Of course he was, the way that Zero’s eyes darted down to the paper on his desk told him that he was in the middle of something that Ocelot wasn’t privy to. Zero only had two options, say that he wasn’t busy and risk Ocelot seeing whatever he was doing, or say yes and risk making Ocelot suspicious of him, causing the younger man to search for answers.

They both knew that if Ocelot wanted answers…he would get them.

“No, not at all. Have a seat.” Holding back a feral grin, Ocelot strolled over to the chair that was settled in front of Zero’s desk, sitting down and leaning back, knowing that he was in control right then. “What did you want to talk about?” The way that Zero tried to casually cover up the paper with a folder confirmed what Ocelot already knew. Whatever Zero was up to, it wasn’t going to include him…most likely meaning it could only be one thing.

“ _Les Enfants Terribles.”_ The air was filled with the tension radiating from Zero, whose eyes darted back down to the now hidden paper so quickly that, had Ocelot not been looking for it, he wouldn’t have caught it. Letting that hang in the air for a moment, Ocelot continued. “I was hoping that you had thought more about it…about telling Snake about what you are planning…though, I may do so anyways.” The insinuation let Zero know that Ocelot wasn’t fucking around, he meant what he said.

“I…have actually. I’ve talked it over with Para-medic and she had a change of heart. We’re scrapping _Les Enfants Terribles.”_ Ocelot narrowed his eyes at the older man, trying to gauge if what he said was true…though, he couldn’t tell one way from another…so, either he was telling the truth…or Zero had expected this conversation sooner or later. Most likely, it was the latter over the former…but Ocelot couldn’t tell for sure.

“Scrapping it? Well…that’s good to hear.” Speaking slowly as to make sure that Zero knew he was suspicious of him, he stood up, his eyes never leaving the other man’s face. “Let’s just hope that you aren’t lying about this Zero. Unlike Snake…” He paused for dramatic effect, “I won’t hesitate to kill you.” The flash of shock and fear that hit Zero’s face for a quick moment was enough to let Ocelot know that Zero got the message loud and clear.

Turning his back on Zero, Ocelot left without another word, the door shutting behind him as he exited the office.

He knew something was up…not believing one word out of Zero’s mouth. From here on out, he needed to be extra vigilant in watching the activities of Zero and Para-Medic especially…he wasn’t going to let them betray John.

 

Heading out of the building to meet up with his interrogation instructor, Ocelot let his mind wander, wondering what he would do should he find out that the project hadn’t been scrapped and that they had moved onwards with it…figuring that he would deal with it when it came to that point.

His instructor took advantage of his wandering mind, the training bordering on the edge of cruelty.

“You aren’t paying attention!” Pressing the baton against his side and releasing the flow of electricity through the blonde’s body, Ocelot’s instructor frowned at his normally composed student. Letting Ocelot recover for a moment, he swung the baton to his shoulder, shocking him there for a moment before backing up. “I don’t know what has gotten into you today.” Ocelot met the other man’s eyes defiantly, perking back to his old self.

“It…won’t happen again.” Setting his shoulders back as far as he could, he braced himself for the next onslaught of shocks, making sure that he didn’t fight the shock and relaxed more.

“I’m going to hold you to that.” The instructor circled around him, smirking as he watched Ocelot’s gaze follow him warily, watching for signs of what was to come.

He knew he needed to be hyperaware of what was going on him, not just in this room with his instructor’s sadistic gaze skirting his body, searching for the most painful place to hit him with an electric shock…but around Zero especially. He wouldn’t allow Zero to betray John.

 

^^^^

 

“All we need now are cells from Snake.” Para-medic practically twirled around her lab room as she checked and double-checked everything she needed for the cloning process, having just received some eggs from her Japanese assistant that would work perfectly…if only she had the DNA from Snake.

Eva hummed noncommittally, her eyes watching the other woman closely, her mind on everything other than what she was saying.

“Problem is…how are we going to get some without him knowing?” Eva was forced to look at her as she stopped in her movement to focus on the blonde woman. “Or Ocelot figuring out what’s going on?” She felt sick to her stomach, knowing she was going behind both of her men’s backs by doing what she was…but she was too far in now to pull out.

“I’m not sure…I’m sure you’ll figure something out soon enough.” Telling her almost optimistically, Eva shifted in the chair she was seated at, trying to get the blood flowing to her legs again.

“Yeah. I’m sure I will…I just wish that Ocelot hadn’t backed out. Would have made things much easier.” Para-Medic returned to wandering around her lab, checking on things that she had already checked on hundreds of times before, but still felt the need to check on them again.

Standing up and stretching her back, Eva eyed the other woman for a moment.

“I think I’m going to head out. Go eat dinner with Ocelot.” Smiling with the thought of seeing one of the men she loves, the blonde woman waved to the other woman, who just hummed in farewell, her attention focused on something else.

It was a quick walk back to the other half of the building where Ocelot was already waiting for her, dinner just about finished.

“Something sure smells good.” Alerting him to her presence as she walked into the kitchen, Eva sauntered over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck and planting a kiss on his lips. Ocelot grabbed her hips, dragging her closer to him as he deepened the kiss. Flipping them around so that her back was against the counter, she moved her arms so that she could push herself onto the countertop, pulling him in between her legs as they continued their lip-lock. Running her hands across his chest, she started to undo the buttons on his shirt, needing him to be inside her soon. She heard him start to fumble with his belt buckle as she finished unbuttoning the last button on his shirt.

A timer started buzzing, causing them to jerk apart startled. Ocelot turned his attention to the oven where their dinner was and chuckled, running one of his hands through his hair as he pulled away from, a now unhappy, Eva. She watched as he grabbed a cloth, opened the oven and pulled the hot pan out and settled it on the stovetop.

“Guess that’ll have to wait until after dinner then.” He returned his blue eyes to her face, smirking at her frown at being ignored for food.

“Ugh, fine then.” Sliding off the counter, she walked over to the table and sat down, settling her focus on watching Ocelot as he dished out the food onto two plates for them and placed one in front of her before sitting down himself. She grabbed her fork and pushed her food around her plate for a moment, her eyes drifting up to look at the man across from her.

Eva felt like she should tell him that Zero hadn’t scrapped _Les enfants terribles_ …that the project was still in the works…

…but she just couldn’t find the heart to tell him, knowing that if she did he would put an end to the project one way or another and she would never get to carry John’s children.

“Everything alright?” She nearly jolted at his voice, her eyes snapping up to meet his.

“Yeah…just spaced off there.” Smiling disarmingly, she returned her attention to her food, starting to eat.

He dropped the subject, knowing that she wasn’t going to tell him anything that she didn’t want to.

After they had finished, he grabbed both plates and cleaned them up, putting the remainder of the food in the refrigerator, knowing that John would most likely eat it sometime later. Eva stood, and the both of them walked out of the kitchen, not needing to say a single word to the other to know what the other was thinking.

Ocelot opened his door, letting Eva follow him in before shutting it behind her. Once she heard the telltale click of the door shutting, Eva spun around shoving Ocelot against the wall behind him and crushed their lips together, letting her days frustrations flow through her and into the man that didn’t seem to mind her shift from being the gentle one to being more aggressive.

Stepping back from the man, Eva grinned widely, cocking her hip out and motioning to the bed almost impatiently. Ocelot moved closer to her, his own grin splitting his face and before she could even move a step, she was thrown over his shoulder as he carried her to the bed. Landing with a bounce as he dropped her onto the mattress, she huffed but she wasn’t able to complain as Adam pressed his lips against hers and pushed her onto her back, which she let him do without complaint, her own hands already racing to strip him of his clothes.

Though she wished to release herself of her self-proclaimed burden, Eva knew that, in the end, she would have to deal with whatever came her way…even if it wasn’t a happy ending like she wanted.

 

^^^

 

Letting the limp body fall into the bushes, Snake cast his eye around to see if there were any other soldiers hanging around and was pleased when he saw that he was alone for a moment. Bending down and flicking on his radio, he set it to Zero’s frequency, waiting a few moments for the other man to answer.

 **“Snake?”** Zero’s voice in his ear finally responded

“I’ve managed to clear the perimeter of the building. You said the document was in the west wing?” Even though he hadn’t seen any other people around, Snake kept looking around on the off chance that back up would arrive, or one of the soldiers awaken.

 **“Yes. It should be on the first floor of the west wing. Should be an easy in, easy out.”** Zero sounded confident in him, and Snake figured that it would be just as he said.

“Alright. I should be back within a few hours then.” Snake said then switched the radio off, not waiting for a response, instead standing up and pulling out his gun, once again searching for signs of enemies.

 

A few hours turned into something much longer, between having been spotted by a hidden sentry and being forced to hide until they went off a combat alert and then walking straight into an enemy trap, Snake found himself practically crawling to where Zero’s helicopter was going to pick him up.

He was bleeding heavily and he could feel the bones grinding against each other in his leg with each step he took…he wasn’t sure if his leg was broken or just dislocated. Shaking his head to rid himself of the buzzing in his ears and attempting to regain his focus, he vaguely heard what sounded to be a helicopter before the darkness consumed him.

Drifting in and out of consciousness, Snake tried to focus on the blurred faces that swam around him, their muffled voices sounded like they were underwater and he wasn’t able to make out a single word being said before succumbing back to the darkness once again.

 

He wasn’t sure how long he had been out, but the ache in his head and his limbs took priority over the passage of time. Opening his eye, he squinted against the overhead lights, trying to figure out where he was, his gaze falling on the blurred figure seated nearby. Blinking to try to rid himself of the blurriness of his vision, he let himself smile softly when he noticed that the lone figure was actually two figures. With a grunt, he alerted the two other people of his awakening, both of them standing to come to his bedside.

“John! You’re okay?” Eva asked reaching out to grab his hand in hers, her smile warm and soft.

“Yeah…” He rasped, his eye drifting around her face before turning to the other blond who was frowning deeply at him. “Adam?” Taking his hand from Eva to reach out towards the displeased man, John attempted to ease whatever he had done to make Adam mad at him.

“So, you’re always careful? Sure seems like that.” Adam’s voice cut through the air like a knife and, had he not been around him for as long as he had, he would have flinched at the coldness in his tone.

He didn’t know how to respond to that, so he said the only thing he could think of.

“Please don’t get mad at each other because I didn’t come back safely…” John let his eye dart between Adam and Eva, who glanced at each other for a moment before settling both their gazes on him, this time both were softened.

“John…you really need to be more careful…what exactly happened?” Eva asked, pulling up one of the chairs that she and Adam had been seated in earlier and sat closer to the bed.

“I…there was an ambush waiting for me…it was as if they had been expecting me there.” He explained, his tone confused. Eva knitted her eyebrows together, rubbing her thumb against the back of his hand, lost in thought. Adam stared at him, gears turning in his head, though John wasn’t sure as to what he was trying to piece together.

“Well…at least you made it out relatively unharmed?” Eva said, her voice returning to a more optimistic tone, her face warmed by her large smile. “And don’t mind Adam, he was just worried about you.” She shot said man an amused glance, one he returned with a pointed glare, before looking up at John, who just grinned back at him.

“Just…be more careful won’t you? Or else I may have to accompany you on your missions to ensure you don’t screw them up.” Adam shot at him, crossing his arms across his chest in an attempt to try to brush off how bothered he had been at John’s condition.

“Don’t tempt me to screw up a few more just so you will come with me.” John shot back with a chuckle, grinning at Adam’s nearly scandalize gaze.

“John, if you want me to come with you, do everyone a favor and just ask okay?” The blond huffed, finally closing the distance between himself and John, grabbing the offered hand and squeezing it back slightly.

“Will do.” John squeezed Adam’s slender hand in his own, not able to hold himself back from teasing the other man. “And then we could do cat calls to one another.” Adam jerked his hand out of John’s, his face morphing with a scowl and a glare, obviously not finding his joke funny whatsoever.

“On second thought, you can do your damn missions on your own.” Nearly growled back at him, John laughed, trying to get Adam’s hand back but the other man wouldn’t budge and refused to move close enough to let John reach him.

“Oh, you know I was just teasing you. It really is too easy sometimes.” John said, not surprised when the only response was an ice blue glare.

“He’s right, you are fun to tease sometimes.” Eva chipped in, returning a smile when Adam turned his glare on her. “You know we love you though.” Almost whispered, Eva batted her eyes at the other blond, obviously feeling victorious when his posture relaxed and his glare dissipated with a sigh.

Adam glanced at him, huffing slightly before coming over to him and placing a kiss on his forehead.

“We should leave you be so you can get some rest.” Adam said as he pulled back, his blue eyes meeting John’s for a moment before looking over at Eva.

“I guess he’s right. You be a good boy alright John?” Placing her hands on her hips, Eva stared down at him with an almost motherly tone to her voice. With a chuckle he nodded, his eye already slipping shut as his body started to shut down for the night.

 

^^^^

 

Eva shut the door silently behind them as her and Adam left John to sleep, following behind Adam as he led them from the medical bay to their half of Patriots HQ. They didn’t say a word to each other the entire trip back and Eva mused how there had been one time where this silence between them would have felt awkward, but now it was comfortable.

Adam turned and entered his room, leaving the door open behind him so Eva took that as an invitation to some in, so she did, shutting the door behind her. He stripped down to his boxers, sitting on the edge of the bed, his eyes drifting over her body as she stripped her clothes off as well.

“I’m returning to the Soviet Union.” Eva paused, her head snapping over to look at him in shock. It was an understatement to say that she hadn’t been expecting that from him.

“You…are? Why?” Shimmying out of the rest of her clothes, bar her undergarments, she settled on the bed next to him, pressing against his side and running her hands down his sides.

“Zero…insisted I return to maintain my cover with the Soviets and attempt to get some information about what’s going on over there…” He paused to look at her and she remained silent…she knew he was debating whether he wanted to disclose any more information to her.

“…Personally, I think he’s afraid.” This shocked her as well…she had no clue as to what possibly could have scared Zero into making Adam return to the USSR.

“And…he’s making you leave?” She knew that if she didn’t push for more at this point, he wouldn’t give up anything else.

“No…not necessarily. I could stay, but I figure it wouldn’t hurt to return for a week…or two weeks.” He shifted, his eyes focusing on the door, obviously thinking about what he was planning on saying next, but Eva was still curious.

“Why would Zero be afraid?” Scooting further up the bed to settle her chin on his shoulder and press her chest into his back, Eva shut her eyes and listened to his heartbeat.

“I refused to help turn Zero into One. I don’t know what he’s planning, but I know I’ve done the right thing…I don’t know if anyone else has done the same…or is going to do the same.” Eva knitted her eyebrows together, not understanding what he meant. _Turning Zero into one?_

Apparently, she wasn’t going to get any answer since he moved out of her grasp and laid back on the bed, his back facing her. She knew that he was done talking about this and she didn’t want to try pushing the subject, so she resigned herself to settle against his back, her cheek pressing into his shoulder blades and her arms wrapped around his waist, her brain still trying to figure out what the hell he meant.

 

 

_It wouldn’t be until forty two years later that she would understand what he meant by that simple phrase. Staring out at the orphans that she tried to give a better life than what they had as they ran to their motorcycles and the vans that stored ~~Big Boss’~~ Solidus’ body, Eva met the gaze of Solid Snake…his eyes blue like his father’s…she finally knew what Adam had meant all those years ago…though she knew her definition of what was right was different than what Adam and John had thought was right. Adam knew that enabling Zero to do what he pleased would lead to major consequences, he had tried to stop Zero **before** the man had started on the path that had ultimately led to what the world was in 2014…though, if given a second chance, Eva would have made the same decision…she loved the boys that she had given birth to, even though their conception had torn apart something that could have been wonderful._

 

 

But for now, she lay her head against his warm back, pondering his meaning before letting sleep consume her, glad that John was back with them, safe and sound, though slightly roughened up.


	13. Stay Optimistic

Practically tossing the book across the room, Snake huffed as the paperback slid underneath the cabinet and out of his sight. He didn’t want to sit in the hospital room all day, doing nothing but staring at the walls and listening to the maddening beeping of all the infernal machines around him. Hoping that either Adam or Eva would come and visit him since they hadn’t visited since the day before when he had woken up after returning from his mission.

Perking up at the sound of the tumblers on the door turn, he turned his eye to stare at the door, glad to have finally gotten company.

It was Para-Medic.

Slumping back against his pillow, Snake sighed loudly, making sure that the woman could hear it even across the room.

“Everything alright Snake?” Her chipper voice grated on his nerves…he wished that she was…blonder. He missed his blondes and the sight of the reddish-brunet was a disappointment.

“…Yeah, I guess so.” Shifting on the bed, he tried to hide the grimace he made as his leg twinged in pain. He decided moving around wasn’t too smart at the moment. The woman moved around his bed, checking his charts and his IV drip, her eyes finally settling on the bedside table.

“Where’d the book I left for you go?” Her eyebrows narrowed suspiciously at him as she crossed her arms across her chest.

“I was curious as to what it tasted like.” He responded with the most deadpan tone, his face not betraying the amusement that he felt, especially when her eyebrows flew upwards in incredulity.

“You can’t be serious Snake.” Said exasperatedly, Para-Medic huffed, her eyes searching around for any signs of her book that she so graciously let him borrow for entertainment. She turned back towards him and frowned deeply.

“Snake…where is it?” He sighed, pointing towards the cabinet that it had slid underneath when he threw it…he had told her that he didn’t want to watch Dracula…what made her think that _reading_ it was any better?

Walking over to the cabinet that was pointed out, she bent down, reaching her hand underneath to grab her precious book, dusting off the cover and holding it close to her chest. She returned back to his bedside with a serious stare.

“If you don’t want to read Dracula…then what book would you prefer?” She tilted her head inquisitively…like he would actually enjoy reading a book.

“I would prefer if Ad…Ocelot or Eva would come over here and visit me.” He returned her stare, watching as her expression morphed into one that showed she was thinking about something and he hoped that she hadn’t caught his slight slip up.

“I’ll see if Eva wants to visit…though…” She focused on him then with a soft smile, “I think Ocelot was heading back to the Soviet Union soon.”

_What?_

He narrowed his eyebrows at her, letting her know that he didn’t appreciate any possible jokes, though he softened his gaze when she didn’t let him know it was a joke.

“Since when was he leaving?” His throat threatened to shut on him as his chest tightened in what felt vaguely like betrayal.

“It was only recently…you had just left for your mission I think when he and Zero were talking about it.” She patted his hand gently as if she was trying to sooth his churning emotions. He didn’t want Adam to leave…if he left, who knows when they would see each other again? He didn’t realize how ingrained the other man had gotten into his life…though he didn’t want it to change any time soon if at all.

“Though…I suppose that I could ask if he’d come visit you before he left.” She smiled, turning around and heading towards the door, nodding her head slightly at the responded “Sure, that sounds good”, before walking out and leaving Snake to his thoughts.

Why hadn’t Adam said anything about leaving when he had been there yesterday?

He shook his head, thinking _He was more worried about my wellbeing than letting me know he was leaving._

Hoping that Para-Medic would hold up her promise to get Adam to visit before leaving, Snake settled back against the pillows, returning to staring at the wall in sheer boredom.

 

^^^

 

Barely pausing to knock before entering Zero’s office, Ocelot let the door slam shut behind him, reveling in the way that the older man flinched in surprise at the loud entrance.

“O…Ocelot!” He let out a startled chuckle, trying to regain any composure that he had lost at the younger man barging in. “I…Can I help you with something?” Zero cleared his throat, clasping his hands together and letting them sit on his desk that would have shown any other person that he was calm and collected, but Ocelot could see the way his fingers trembled slightly, and he grinned very feline like.

“Indeed you can Zero. I just want a simple answer for a simple question.” He paused, his grin widening as he continued, “Nothing else. And then I’ll leave for the Soviet Union.”

Zero swallowed, his adam’s apple bobbing slightly at the movement, then nodded at him. “Of course…what is it?” Ocelot knew that the other man was nervous.

“Yesterday, Snake said that he was ambushed during his mission…” He took in Zero’s expression, the way the other man’s eyes shot up to his face in concealed surprise. “He said it was almost as if they were expecting him there.” Ocelot’s spurs clinked in the dead silent room as he walked closer to Zero’s desk, placing his hands on the edge of the desk and leaning closer to Zero so that they were only inches apart. “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about this ambush…would you?”

Zero didn’t deny it instantly like Ocelot had imagined he would have done…instead he took a few moments to think carefully about his answer, obviously very wary of Ocelot, his eyes darting around the room almost unperceptively…that was enough for Ocelot to figure out that he was trying to come up with a believable lie.

“Are you accusing me of setting up an ambush for Snake? Why in god’s name would I do something like that?” Zero eventually shot back and Ocelot straightened up, staring down his nose at the other man.

“Oh…I don’t know…” he took a few steps back, his spurs jingling loudly. “Perhaps because then he’d end up in the medical room where it would be oh so very easy for you to harvest his cells.” To his credit, Zero’s expression didn’t show any change as the insinuation hung heavily in the air. “Wouldn’t that be convenient?” Ocelot crossed his arms across his chest, his blue eyes narrowed icily at the older man.

“I…can’t believe you would think so little of me Ocelot. I would never put Snake in harm’s way on purpose.” Shifting in his chair Zero met Ocelot’s gaze with the confidence that the older major usually held himself with.

Ocelot didn’t get a chance to respond as the door opened behind him, revealing Para-Medic who let out a little “Oh!” as she realized that Zero wasn’t alone.

“Ah, Ocelot. Snake was wanted you to visit him before you left. He’s been pretty bored.” Para-Medic’s overly peppy voice made Ocelot look back at her, his icy blue eyes staring her down and making her nervous, before he returned his gaze to Zero.

“I know what you are planning Zero, and I hope you will really think things through before blindly going through with your plans. Stop while you are ahead.” He turned and practically pushed his way past Para-Medic, whose eyes followed his back to the door where he paused. “It’s no coincidence that you want me back in the Soviet Union I’m sure…” He turned his head to stare once more at the older man, “Do you really think Snake would approve of what you are doing?” He left the two of them alone after that, letting the door click behind him, his spurs echoing down the silent hallway. Ocelot would go and visit Snake before heading back to the USSR, where he would spend as little time as possible.

He wasn’t sure if anything he said got through Zero’s thick skull…but Zero had better know that he was earning a dangerous enemy if things got out of control.

Given the choice between remaining loyal to Zero or Snake…

Well, there honestly wasn’t a choice there.

John held his heart and Adam would follow him to hell and back if he wanted him to.

 

^^^

 

Splashing cold water in her face, Eva looked up into the mirror, looking herself in her eyes. Her heart was pounding and she attempted to calm it down from its high…though every time she thought she regained control, she remembered why it was racing in the first place.

Para-Medic had come to her not even thirty minutes ago and told her that the project was a go.

She had gotten cells from Snake and now all she needed to do was fertilize the egg that she had gotten from her assistant and implant it within Eva’s womb.

Back when _Les enfants terribles_ was only a thought in Zero’s and Para-Medic’s heads, Eva didn’t think much about what they were doing…why would she? There had been a chance that it wouldn’t even make it past the planning stages…certainly it wouldn’t come to fruition.

But now it hit her hard that **this was happening.**

Breathing deeply, she gripped the wash basin tightly, her knuckles turning white.

Sure, she could back out…tell Zero that she wasn’t going to be part of this project, much like Ocelot had done…but…

She didn’t matter in the end.

She was only the thing that would grow the babies. You can’t grow people in test tubes after all.

She could be easily replaced.

 

Shaking her head, Eva straightened her back, staring back at her face in the mirror.

No. She wouldn’t back out, not now. Even though she knew that nothing would be the same after this…she didn’t want some random woman being the one to carry the babies with John’s genes.

Taking a step away from the mirror and regaining her composure, she was set in her decision. With a nod, she spun around and exited the bathroom, letting the door close behind her. Heading off to talk with Para-Medic, Eva didn’t let her mind stray to the two men in her life that she was sure would turn their backs on her once they find out what she was doing…but she didn’t let that get to her.

If they truly loved her, then they wouldn’t let this get between them.

If not…then where they even worth her time?

 

As she neared Para-Medic’s office, her stride waivered, doubting herself once again…but she powered through the self-doubt, knocking briefly before opening the door and letting herself in, leaving all doubts behind her in the hallway.

“EVA, I’m glad you showed up.” Para-Medic spun in her chair to face the other woman as she closed the distance between the door and the doctor’s desk.

“Yeah?” Settling herself gently on the chair across from Para-Medic, Eva glanced around the empty lab, thinking it was interesting that she seemed to always work alone.

“Yeah…I think Ocelot is suspicious of what’s going on…” She let her words sink in for a moment before continuing, “He confronted Zero a little while ago…he didn’t seem very pleased to say the least.” The other woman sighed, ruffling her hair slightly before smiling widely at Eva. “Though, it doesn’t matter. There isn’t anything he can do at this point.”

Eva nearly shivered, wishing that Para-Medic would stop talking about Adam…she didn’t like the guilty feelings that arose when she thought of either John or Adam.

“Everything alright EVA?” Meeting the other woman’s eyes, she nodded slightly, plastering a fake smile across her face to ease her worries.

“Yeah. Just a little nervous I suppose.” Para-Medic hummed, turning her attention to a folder on her desk, flipping through the papers inside.

“I heard that that’s pretty common for first time mothers.” Eva didn’t warrant that with a response, instead just letting her gaze wander the lab for the twentieth time since walking in, knowing that she was going to get well acquainted with this room in the next nine months.

Eva didn’t think that she would be able to face John or Adam for a while, her guilt already too great to deal with…

…But then again…

Perking up slightly as a thought ran through her head…perhaps, they wouldn’t have to know about the project.

Of course, John was sterile, so it would have been strange for her to end up pregnant saying that they were John’s children…

But…

She and Adam had had sex a few times.

It wouldn’t be a farfetched idea to think that the babies were his.

They wouldn’t have to know about the project and perhaps it would only bring them closer instead of tearing them apart.

 

…but would she really stoop that low in order to keep them by her side?

 

^^^

 

  For the second time that day, Snake heard the click of the door opening and this time he glanced around at him searching for anything within reach that he could possibly throw if it was Para-Medic again…her chipper voice was the last thing he wanted to hear at this moment.

His face lit up when he saw that it wasn’t Para-Medic, but Ocelot.

“I heard that you were practically dying from boredom in here.” Adam said as he walked the short distance to John’s bed, his face alight with amusement.

“Yeah…I hate just sitting around doing nothing.” John explained, attempting to push himself upright, to which Adam helped him, fluffing up his pillow to hold most of his weight when he sat back onto it.

“Don’t blame you…sure sucks when ya need to though.” Adam sat on the edge of John’s bed, turning his gaze out through the only window in the room. Reaching his hand out to just touch Adam, John smiled back at him softly when the blond turned his eyes back to him.

“So…I heard that you were heading back to the Soviet Union?” Adam huffed, this time looking down at his gloved hands, his eyebrows narrowed almost angrily.

“Yeah. Zero wants me to go back and keep up appearances I guess, but…” He trailed off, the leather of his gloves creaking as he tightened his fingers into a fist. John stared at him for a few moments, but it soon became apparent that he wasn’t going to finish his statement…and he didn’t know if he wanted to urge him to continue.

“You’ll be back…right?” Grabbing Adam’s fist and gently pulling his fingers apart in order to grab his hand in his own, John hoped that whatever was bothering Adam would ease up.

“Of course. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Adam’s expression lightened up tremendously as he smirked at him, “Besides, someone needs to look after you after all.” John let out a chuckle as he tightened his hold on the younger man’s hand, never wanting to let him go.

“Good. I don’t think I can stand Eva’s cooking for too long.” They both let out a laugh, glad that the conversation had shifted to something much more light hearted.

“I’m surprised you can even swallow her food.” Adam mused, standing up off the bed, but leaving his hand in John’s grip, not wanting to separate himself from the other man completely yet. “Oh!” Nearly jerking his hand from John’s, then remembering he does have another hand that he can use, Adam reached into his pocket, pulling out a couple of cigars and handing them over to John, who released his hand in order to grab them.

“Figured you’d be needing more, so I…” Adam shrugged, a grin across his face at the almost childish delight on John’s face.

“I was almost out.” Putting one of the cigars in his mouth and biting off the tip, he looked up at Adam expectantly, his lips quirking up as the blond pulled out his lighter and lit the end for him, then frowned as he realized something. “How am I supposed to light them without you here?” They stared at each other for a couple moments, before Adam snorted.

“That’s right, you don’t carry around a lighter do you?” Placing his lighter on the bedside table, Adam took a step back and John knew that their time together was drawing to a close. “You can have mine I suppose. Not like I’m going to need it where I’m going.” John drew him back in as he grabbed the cigar out of his mouth so that he could kiss Adam. John let his eyes slip shut as he just let himself enjoy the feeling of lips against his and the taste that was distinctly Adam. He didn’t know how long their kiss lasted, but he felt it lasted much too short as Adam pulled back.

“You behave yourself John.” John knew that Adam was just stalling some time before leaving, so he just smiled almost sadly at him. “And…just…be careful alright?” John wasn’t sure why he would need to be careful, but he nodded in agreement anyways and that was apparently enough for Adam.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Adam told him again, staring at him for a few more moments before turning and walking to the door, John’s eye following him the entire way. He paused at the door, then turned back towards him, flicking his hands in the way that he normally did, but twisted his hand and blew him a kiss, grinning at John’s amusement before leaving him alone once again.

Letting himself slip back down into a lying position, John stared up at the ceiling in confusion.

Why had Adam told him to be careful? Wasn’t he surrounded by his friends?

Glancing over at the lighter that Adam had left for him, he frowned, wondering if maybe Adam didn’t feel comfortable around them. Them being Zero, Para-Medic, and Sigint…

That was the only thing that made sense to John…it could be hard to give your trust to someone you didn’t know had your best interests in heart…but those three were good people and would never do anything to betray him…

…right?

Placing the, now unlit, cigar on the table next to the lighter, John shifted in his bed, not looking forward to the next few days of lying around without one of his closest friends by his side.

 

^^^

 

Eva felt Adam’s absence later that evening, having returned from Para-Medic’s lab to the half of the building that she had called home for the past few months, and not having him there and knowing that he wasn’t going to be showing up any time soon was strange to her. She hadn’t realized how ingrained both John and Adam had gotten within her life and her heart clenched with the hope that she wouldn’t lose either of them.

With a sigh, she set around the kitchen, looking for something simple to eat tonight since she knew that John wouldn’t be joining her either as he was holed up in the infirmary. Shaking her head, she glanced out the window, her eyes drawn to her motorcycle.

She hadn’t ridden it since…well…her and Adam had been handcuffed together. Lips quirking up into what could have resembled a smile, Eva walked the short distance outside to her bike, running her fingers along the cool metal. Maybe, she would go into town and eat dinner…get away from the building that had suddenly closed in on her and seemed more like a prison by the minute.

Swinging her leg over the bike, Eva settled herself comfortably on the machine, closing her eyes in bliss as she felt the long-missed purr of the engine as she started it up.

This was something that she missed.

The sense of freedom as she felt the wind bite at her face and her hair danced freely around her head.

Heading off towards the closest town, she had the strange urge to never return to that building…but she knew that nothing would come from that. She knew she would go back and continue with what she had already set into motion…and she knew she couldn’t do anything to stop the boulder from rolling down the mountain.

With some reluctance, she stepped off her bike after turning it off, kicking out the kickstand and setting her helmet on her seat. Straightening her hair as she headed to the diner she had as her destination, Eva chuckled sadly as she remembered the last time she had come here, back when her and Ocelot had been handcuffed.

The bell above the door dinged, alerting the woman at the front to her presence.

“Eva! I was starting to wonder if you’d ever come back.” The waitress, Mary, teased as she walked over to the blonde with a large smile on her face.

“I just haven’t had the chance to recently.” Eva explained lamely, shrugging her shoulders half-heartedly. Mary showed her to her table, setting down a menu for her before nodding at her once and heading off to check with the only other people in the diner. She only vaguely glanced through the menu, already knowing what she was going to order, looking up to Mary as she returned moments later.

“Everything alright darling?” Mary eyed her worriedly and Eva realized that she had been acting more somber than she usually felt.

“Yeah…just, have had a lot on my mind the past couple of days.” Eva told her truthfully, though she sometimes wondered why she bothered…it wasn’t as if Mary would even begin to understand what happened in Eva’s life…sometimes Eva didn’t understand most of what happened, it was as if she was in a movie or something at times.

“Good or bad things?” Eva knew she shouldn’t say anything…just lie and be done with it…

But sometimes just talking about something made the guilt and pain dissipate a bit.

“I’m not sure at this point.” Mary took her order and told the chef before returning and sitting down across from Eva. There weren’t any other patrons, so she wouldn’t get in trouble for sitting down for a while with the only guest.

“You’re not sure?” Mary asked, picking up the conversation from where it dropped off moments before.

“Yeah…” Eva looked down to her hands, rougher than Mary’s yet softer than her companions. “…I…” She paused, trying to come up with a way to get Mary to kinda understand what was going on without outright telling her. “I may be pregnant…with…you remember the man I came here with last time?” Eva met Mary’s green eyes, watching as she tried to recall Ocelot, then nodded.

“Yep, he was that grumpy, blond man right?” Eva laughed out loud at that, nodding her head back.

“Uh huh, that’s the one. Anyways, I may be pregnant with his baby…but I…” She looked away from Mary, trying to make her story sound believable…since _I’m going to be pregnant with one man’s clones while I’m sleeping with both that man and another man. By the way, the man whose clones they are doesn’t even know that he is being cloned and I’m afraid that I’m going to lose both men…so I may be thinking about lying to them about it…_ didn’t sound like it was true…even if it was.

She swallowed loudly, her spy training coming in handy when it came to acting. “I also slept with another man…so…I think it’s actually his baby…but he doesn’t want children.” Eva paused, taking in Mary’s appalled expression, before sighing deeply, “I’ve been thinking about just saying it’s the grumpy, blonde’s baby in a hope that I can stay close to both of them…” Eva glanced down at the table for a moment, then returned her eyes to Mary’s face, making her expression look lost and confused. “Would I be wrong in doing that?” She breathed in, forcing her bottom lip to tremble slightly to play the part of the scared and nervous mother-to-be.

“I…” Mary glanced around the diner, taking in all the empty tables, the only sounds being from the kitchen chefs, then turned back to Eva with a sigh. “I’m not sure darling…I mean…he has a right to know that he’s going to be a father…but…” Eva leaned in eagerly, “If it would endanger the child then…maybe it would be smarter to…omit the truth, but I’m not sure that lying would be the best thing to do.” Eva sat back, letting her eyes settle back on her hands, not sure if this helped her guilt dissipate at all.

“I’m sorry about this Mary…I shouldn’t have burdened you with my problem.” She didn’t meet the green eyes that darted around her face worriedly, the frown on her face genuine.

“Sometimes though, you need a friend to help you get through tough times.” Mary told her, standing up to retrieve the plate of food from the chefs and placing it in front of the blonde, who hadn’t moved at all.

“I’m sure everything will turn out alright darling.” Mary told her optimistically, smiling at her before heading off to greet a couple that had just entered the diner.

Only then did Eva let her focus turn to her food, though she found herself not as hungry as she had thought she was. With a sigh, she picked up her fork and began eating, wondering what she should do.

Tell both of them the truth

Or

Lie to them?

Then again, she could just say nothing…they would both have their own assumptions and she could skirt around the topic completely, throwing them off course anytime they asked her about it.

With another sigh, she continued eating, hoping that everything would be alright like Mary had said, though she found it much harder to remain optimistic than her.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize about how long its been taking to upload the new chapters, its been real hard trying to figure out what to even do with this story anymore and I keep getting sidetracked with other stories that I've started writing.   
> Anyways, I thank everyone who has read OE so far and hopefully will stick with me for a while longer while I work out the ending. :)

**Author's Note:**

> So this was written for the tumblr prompt: Big boss interpreting Ocelot’s blatant homolust for him as Ocelot crushing on Eva and being jealous so like a ‘good friend’ tries to give Ocelot opportunities.  
> Eva thinks it’s hilarious and plays up the idea she’s totally interested because Ocelot really doesn’t want to tell BB 'no I’m in to dick, specifically yours’ and wants to see how far she can make him go before he flinches. Like straight chicken.  
> Up to you if this stays gen or goes on to smut, hell if you want Eva to give Ocelot a break and try talking BB into a three-way I’m for that too.


End file.
